Welcome to the Inspirational Stories Garden at God's Little Acre.

May the seasons of your life be spiritually inspired and abundantly blessed.

In God's Love, Peace and Grace,
Rusti

01.  An Untitled Story - After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for that evening...

02.  To Remember Me - The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying...

03.  The Master's Hand - Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her small boy to a Paderewski concert...

04.  The Fire - After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage...

05.  Welcome to Holland - I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability...

06.  God's Under the Bed - My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night...

07.  A Small White Envelope - It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so...

08.  Eternal Life Insurance - This may not be a prayer, but it is all about prayer; about prayer and faith...

09.  A Thousand Marbles - The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work...

10.  The Key - On September 11, 2001, we were all devastated by the events of that day. We never thought this could happen in America, but it did. Our lives have been changed forever...

11.  Dear Jack - Jack took a long look at his speedometer before slowing down. 73 in a 55 mph zone. Fourth time in as many months...

12.  How Much Does a Prayer Weigh - Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries...

13.  The Folded Napkin - I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one...

14.  The Doll and the White Rose - I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in here forever and I just had so much to do...

15.  Ugly the Tomcat - Everyone in the apartment complex I lived in knew who Ugly was. Ugly was the resident tomcat. Ugly loved three things in this world: fighting, eating garbage, and, shall we say, love...

16.  The Dark Candle - A man had a little daughter--an only and much beloved child. He lived only for her, she was his life...

17.  The Story of the Almonds - I woke up shivering the morning of Thanksgiving Day 1969. I'd pulled a canvas tarp over me while laying on a hay bail in a barn just off the road I was hitchhiking on, north of Sacramento going north to Oregon...

18.  The Story of Kyle - One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. His name was Kyle...

19.  The Smell of Rain - A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news...

20.  The Son - A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection from Picasso to Raphael...

21.  The Tablecloth - The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry to reopen a church in Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities...

22.  Who Packed Your Parachute Today - Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile...

23.  The Gift - His house was in a poor area of the community. A church had a bus ministry that came knocking on his door one Saturday afternoon...

24.  The Pearls - The cheerful girl with golden bouncy curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box...

25.  Carl's Garden - Carl was a quiet man who didn't talk much but would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake...

26.  The Man and the Birds - Now the man to whom I am going to introduce you was not a scrooge. He was a kind, decent, mostly good man, generous to his family and upright in his dealings with other men...

27.  The Dream - I always used to ask God to show me how to live faith. It's already a few years since I had a very significant dream, which is vividly imprinted in my mind and in my heart forevermore...

28.  Forgiveness - Three years ago, a friend said something to me that hurt very deeply. I was speechless. I could not believe she could say that and mean it...

29.  Taxi Driver - Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. It was a cowboy's life, a life for someone who wanted no boss. What I didn't realize was that it was also a ministry...

30.  The Quilt - As I faced my Maker at last judgement, I knelt before the Lord along with the other souls . Before each of us laid our lives, like the squares of a Quilt...

31.  Come As Your Are - I shook my head in disbelief. This couldn't be the right place. After all, I couldn't possibly be welcome here. I had been given an invitation several times, by several different people, and I had finally decided to see what this place was all about...

32.  The Missing Rib - A girl in love asked her boyfriend, "Tell me, who do you love most in this world? " "You, of course! " "In your heart, what am I to you? "...

33.  God, Jesus and Me - Sally jumped up as soon as she saw the Surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: "How is my little boy? Is he going to be O.K.? When can I see him? "...

34.  Acts of Kindness - This young man was driving home one evening, on a two lane country road. Work in this small mid-western community was almost as slow as his beat-up Pontiac...

35.  Grandfather's Table - A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law and four year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered...

36.  A Trucker's Last Letter - Steamboat Mountain was a man killer, and truckers who hauled the Alaska Highway treated it with great respect. Particularly in the winter, the road used to curve and twist over the mountain, and sheer cliffs dropped away sharply from the icy road...

37.  Run in the Rain - She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red-haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside -- the kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters...

38.  Coming Soon!

39.  Coming Soon!

40.  Coming Soon!