Precious Memories - Page 8
George lived through this, but not without learning another great lesson. Today, he is as bold as a lion, yet harmless as a dove. He doesn’t let Satan scare him into believing you have to tolerate his evil to keep from offending him. We learned that experience is the best teacher! Day after day we learned that faith in God was real and He put us through a schooling to prepare us for the work He had for us to do.
Those were the days when I washed George’s suits with cleaning fluid because we couldn’t afford to have them dry cleaned. Sometimes they would have to hang in the air for days before I could get the smell of the cleaning fluid out of them.
Sometimes we would watch for George to come home from working in the hay fields, hoping to be able to buy something special for supper, only to learn when he came in that he had been paid that day with eggs instead of money! We would have poached eggs, boiled eggs, fried eggs, and scrambled eggs for days, but we were always thanked the Lord, even for eggs.
I remember how happy I was the day that one of the farmers that George worked for and his wife brought me an old wringer-type washing machine and some fresh milk. This was a real blessing after washing clothes for my family in the old-fashioned way for so long. Looking back on these precious memories now, I wouldn’t take anything for what Jesus taught us while we were striving to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
During our struggle at this little church, we also began to learn how corrupt and unfair that denominations were. We would travel a hundred miles to a prayer meeting at another church because holiness churches were so few at this time in that area. We always sent our tithe money into headquarters with our monthly report, but we saw things that we knew were not according to the Word of God, which we knew was the only true foundation.
Another young man, trying to pastor a church, while living in the basement of the church with his little family, was miserable because, when it rained, the basement would flood with water. They asked for help, knowing that in other states there was a surplus of tithe money because of so many prosperous churches. In the state of Nebraska at this time, it was a mission state for this certain denomination. The greedy leaders of these churches refused to share with Brother Johnny and his family by saying that each state was responsible for its own churches. These same leaders were living in earthly mansions, buying new cars and buying private boats, etc. to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. They did not have the love of God because the Word says that the only way you know that you have passed from death unto life is because you love the brethren. God was revealing to us how far off of the Word of God that people had strayed.
George began to seek God more that ever before, asking Him to reveal His perfect will for our lives.
Looking back now, I can see how wonderful His riches and blessings were in our lives and how His hand was upon us, leading and guiding us, as His Word proved to be a light, shining on our pathway and a lamp unto our feet.
We were on a long journey through life, needing Him to show us what step to take next. I can truly say that He has never failed us one time in our Christian walk. I say, over and over, “Blessed be the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and soon coming King!” My desire is to share what we have found with others. While the storms of life rage, I have perfect peace in my heart because of Jesus.