Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: DIARY (05/16/19)
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TITLE: A Priceless Record | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Custer
05/22/19 -
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Betty invited Jesus into her life when she was in her twenties, and her life changed. She wanted everyone to know Jesus and the abundant life He offers now as well as in eternity. She especially wanted her parents to share her joy.
Betty saw all of her sisters and mother embrace the Christian faith. Her father, Frank Carson, would probably have said he believed, but he had battled alcoholism most of his life, and Betty knew he needed freedom from that disease.
Betty married a man that shared her faith. She had three children and was careful to take them to church and teach them the stories of the Bible. She enjoyed fellowship with her sisters and with her mother, when she came to visit, but continued to long to see a change in her father’s life.
Betty’s parents lived several hours away in an area where communication was not as easy as it is today. Since they had no phone in their home, mail was the most common form of communication. It was hard to have meaningful dialogue with her father. One fall Betty’s mother came for a visit, leaving Frank at home. After several days Betty and her mother tried to make contact with Frank by calling a neighbor and asking them to check on him. But, alas, the neighbor got no response when she knocked on the door.
After a few hours they tried again, but still no answer. Feeling uneasy, the county sheriff was called to investigate. Shortly after, the sheriff called the family with the sad news that he had found Frank sitting at the table. It appeared that he had died two days earlier. The loss of one’s father is distressing, but especially so for Betty who had no assurance that her dad had made peace with God.
By the time of the funeral the family received the report that tests revealed Frank did not test for alcohol at the time of his death. That was a small comfort.
Betty returned home after the funeral. A few days later she was alone at home and began praying for peace. With saddened heart she prayed, “If only he had not been alone.” She felt a reassuring presence, and a voice seemed to say, “He wasn’t alone. I was with him.” That brought her immense comfort.
A few weeks later, Betty and her sisters returned to her mother’s home to help with cleaning the house and sorting through accumulated possessions. One of the possessions she found was an old family Bible. The family Bible was the place important information was recorded—births, marriages, deaths, etc. While Betty flipped through the sacred book a small piece of paper fell out. Tears flowed and her heart swelled with gratitude as she read the words, ‘On this day, May 22, 1956, the Lord saved me. Frank Carson’.
When Betty related this story to me my heart rejoiced as I exclaimed, “Wow! What a priceless record!”
NIV
Based on a true story.
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