Let Me Tell You A Story .......

let me tell you a story ...
by Laurajean of Georgia

A little girl (11 yrs old) and her sister (13 yrs) old — their mama, who was the heartbeat of the home — died very suddenly and unexpectedly.

After her death, these girls suffered horribly at the hands of the ones who should have been caring for and protecting them. Their own father wanted to put them in an orphanage, but when he found out that he would have to pay a monthly fee for this "service" he didn't want to do it. (Now, this man had plenty of money and was very adept and skilled at making money.)

He put his two little girls in situations where they were neglected, mistreated and abused — even sexually molested. Unfortunately, he also sexually molested at least one of these girls. The older girl found him in bed with their aunt about two weeks after their mother's funeral. (This aunt "tricked" him into marrying her — said she was pregnant, but she wasn't. They did get married, but spent at least 30 years hating each other. They were miserable.)

These girls had an aunt and uncle who loved them and nurtured them and took them in every chance they got, but often the daddy would prohibit the girls from seeing them — just out of spite and meanness.

Now, according to the world's standards, these two girls had every "right" to be prostitutes, alcholics, drug users, etc. No one would have blamed them. But let me tell you about these two women. They are strong Christians — strong in their faith and walks, strong in leading others to the Lord, strong in counseling and discipling others in their faith, and very strong and firm in the hard stands that they are willing to take. They both became Christians at very young ages IN SPITE of their circumstances, married fine Christian men, and raised their children to be strong Christians as well.

All this to say, that God may not have "caused" these horrible and unspeakable things to happen, but he was never, ever surprised. He was, and is, ALWAYS and at ALL TIMES in control. Romans 8:28 in action —

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
— Romans 8:28

The youngest of the two girls is my mother. I cannot even begin to tell you the number of people on whose lives she has had a tremendous impact — mine included. She did NOT allow the horrific circumstances in her life — over which she had NO CONTROL — to control her.

She had a heart full of forgiveness and she dearly loved her father.

And now, for the good part....

One day, YEARS later (I must have been around 5 or 6 yrs old at the time), a woman called my aunt and introduced herself. She asked my aunt how she was doing, was her husband a Christian, how about her children ... Then, she began asking the same questions about Mary, my mother.

She ended by telling my aunt that she just wanted to know "HOW" her prayers had been answered. You see, she was a good friend of my grandmother. She told my aunt that she stood at the graveside service and she knew that "those two girls" were going to have a hard time of things. She promised the Lord RIGHT there to pray for those two girls EVERY DAY BY NAME. And she did. She continued to pray for my mother and my aunt BY NAME every day until she died. When I was diagnosed with cancer, who do you think that I wanted praying for me???

Do the prayers of one person make a difference?

Absolutely.

*This is a TRUE story with a happy ending!!!

:-)

There is SO much more to this story. It is so amazing. Even now — so many years later — I am still getting bits and pieces of my mother's life story. What she lived through as a child and young person is unreal. It is totally by God's grace, and God's grace alone, that she is who she is today.

An interesting note: My mother's favorite Bible character/story is Joseph and his story of difficulties and forgiveness. She has always maintained that God is in control of even the smallest of circumstances. She has never used her past as an excuse to do the wrong thing, and she never let us (my sister and I) do it either. She refused to be a "victim" of her circumstances. I would say, that through God's grace, she is quite the victor! I dearly loved my grandfather. He was saved when my mother was around 19 or 20, and spent the rest of his life repenting for his actions that caused so much pain.

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http://www.lovetolearnplace.com
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