Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: The Inner Person (09/09/10)
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TITLE: A Life Well Spent | Previous Challenge Entry
By Fern Brown
09/16/10 -
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My mother was as transparent as glass, her light always shining for the Lord Jesus Christ, whom she loved.
As a young wife in the eastern hills of Kentucky, her uncle preached once a month in the small, village church. Mother loved attending services, mostly for the music, at first. Singing was her greatest delight.
Missionaries from New York arrived in the community, beginning a consistent, weekly ministry. When pneumonia took the life of her second child, a beautiful blue eyed, blond haired boy, in desperation, Mother cried out to God and said, “If you are who they say you are, please save me now.” That was all it took for Jesus to become her Saviour. He read her heart’s cry, though no other words were spoken. Her life was forever changed.
Mother divorced my cruel, abusive dad, because of his violent behavior, aroused by drinking, before I was born. She feared for the lives of my three older siblings. Remaining faithful to the Lord, she read her Bible and learned that God hates divorce. Soon they remarried, against everyone’s better judgment. Situations didn’t change right away, but she was a new woman, willing to fight the battle for my Dad’s salvation.
Years passed, more children came, cruelty persisted, and Mother remained dedicated. Though protection and care for the children was a constant issue, loving and serving others, especially Daddy, became her way of life. Mother’s heart always held a song, given by the inner man, Jesus Christ.
Very poor, due to Daddy’s drinking, we lived in a house with open boards in the walls and ceiling. Country rats, which tasted two of my siblings and me, resulted in a dreadful two weeks worth of rabbi shots. It took only one injection for me to understand I wanted no more. Dealing with me firmly and lovingly, Mother forced me to continue with the shots in spite of all my crying. Her old nature would have given in to my pain. Her new nature caused her to do what was right for me.
Mother’s main desire, that all of her family know Jesus, created a hunger in our hearts. She taught the Bible at home, as well as at Sunday school. Her faithfulness in letting Jesus live through her led all of us to faith in Him.
Daddy repented of his sins and trusted Christ as his own Saviour when I was five years old. He became a new man and God took away his thirst for liquor immediately. We learned to run to him, rather than from him, when he walked in the door.
Three children already had dealt with appendicitis, when the doctor announced that I, too, needed an appendectomy. Mother’s face reflected her concern as she stood beside the hospital bed with me, before they wheeled me to the surgery room. Each time one of us had to go through this, reopened the wound that this very illness took the life of her younger brother. Again, she died to self, knowing that without surgery I could possibly die physically.
As a teenager, my friends thought it was a special treat to visit my mother. She encouraged them with sweet, kind words. None of them left without knowing how important it was to be saved, and many of them trusted the Lord as Mother spoke to them.
If I asked to join clubs at school that were questionable to Mom, she never argued with me. She quietly suggested that I do what I thought God wanted me to do. That cut out many activities without any fuss. Because the inner man in her life was Jesus, we learned to let Him have control, too.
When I married and moved away, Mother’s love followed me. I still hear her telling me to live above circumstances by letting Jesus have control of every situation. I can hear her voice lifted in praise to God, yielding every thought and action to Him.
Many years have passed. Daddy and Mother are rejoicing in Heaven with Jesus, face to face, now. Because of her life of sacrifice, love and constantly allowing Jesus to control her life, we know that someday we will see both of them again.
Ephesians 3:16 KJV That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.
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I enjoyed this - very well-written!