Does God Judge By Outside Appearance or Heart? & Family Pics!!!

In this 2 minute clip, I recount my disappointment after hearing the plastic surgeon tell me that he was not able to fix my blind, five-week-old daughter's nose disfigurement due to a "deficiency" of nose material at birth. In that dreary university hospital room, I learned a critical spiritual lesson that applies to all of us—based upon the words of 1st Samuel 16:7.

You might ask: You said on the clip, Juana, that God spoke to you in your sorrow about Mary when you cried out to him as you looked out that dreary window... how is it that 1st Samuel 16:7 popped into your head at that moment? 

The answer is that I had heard that scripture played over and over in my house and car for the previous five years for my other children before Mary was born. It was on a tape called, "GT and the Halo Express,"—all scripture songs! God used scripture that was already there—He brought it forward in my moment of need.

Any way that we can hide God's word in our heart is not a waste of time, is it?

Terry, the best daddy in the world,☺with Mary the day she was born!

Our sons, John and Alex, (l to r) lovin' on Mary 

Big Sis Blair, second mama to Mary,
 and my personal secretary to every phone call, voice mail, and doorbell!
She prayed for a sister for her 6th & 7th birthdays. She was 8 when Mary was born.  

This is just a few hours before Mary was born

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The world may think my youngest, Mary, is an unlikely candidate in certain instances with her blindness and her facial disfigurement. (she wears cute sunglasses by the way) We think she is beautiful! (My boys didn't want us to change her nose when they were growing up! We didn't let them stop us from trying.)

But I have learned that God uses the weak things of the world in a mighty way. In the Bible, Samuel the judge was a prophet whom God spoke through. When he was to anoint the next king, he asked a man named Jesse about his sons. One was tall and handsome and Samuel thought this must be the man for the job. But he wasn't the one. He checked out another son, and in turn he checked out seven of Jesse's sons. 

He eventually asked if there were any more sons. Jesse had not even thought to call his youngest son, David—who was only a shepherd boy; he called for him from the fields, and David was the the one whom God had chosen! Below are the words that God gave to Samuel that day, and the very words He whispered in my heart from His word that day in the hospital room with Mary.

 "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' "

1st Samuel 16:7

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I can't wait to share with you next week in our Monday and Thursday Trusting God series the words of and a snippet in the lives of these modern day Christian heroes: Hannah Whitall Smith, George Washington Carver, Ahn E. Souki, and others.☺☺

We will cover these Christian heroes on the Monday and Thursdays blogs until we conclude this series on Thursday, November 1. (All Saint's Day! I'll tell you my tradition on that day that you might want to adopt, and share a special guest with you on the final day;-)

Someone once said, "We are the same people we were last year—except for the people we meet and the books we read." There may be a lot of truth in that, so get ready for me to introduce you to some God-inspiring people next week (and books to read more). I'm so glad you've chosen to come here.

Walk By Faith,