Cato
07-06-2005, 09:21 PM
I thought you guys might enjoy this. I ran across it while looking for some Bible study stuff.
Chuck Swindol, from his radio broadcast
Arthur Gordon, in his book A Touch of Wonder, relates a story he was told that beautifully describes the impact one life can have on another. The man Gordon spoke with had been stricken with polio at age three, and his parents had abandoned him at a New York City hospital. Taken in by a foster family, he was sent to stay with their relatives in Georgia when he was six, in hopes that the warmer climate would improve his condition. What improved his condition, though, was Maum Jean, and elderly, black woman who took that “frail, lost, lonely little boy” into her heart. For six years, she daily massaged his weak legs; administered her own hydrotherapy by making him stand in the current of a nearby creek; and encouraged him spiritually with her stories, songs, and prayers.
“Night after night Maum Jean continued the massaging and praying. Then one morning, when I was about twelve, she told me she had a surprise for me. She led me out into the yard and placed me with my back against an oak tree; I can feel the rough bark of it to this day. She took away my crutches and braces. She moved back a dozen paces and told me that the Lord had spoken to her in a dream. He had said that the time had come for me to walk. So now, said Maum Jean, I want you to walk over here to me.”
“My instant reaction was fear. I knew I couldn’t walk unaided; I had tried. I shrank back against the solid support of the tree. Maum Jean continued to urge me. I burst into tears. I begged. I pleaded. Her voice rose suddenly, no longer gentle and coaxing but full of power and command. You can walk, boy! The Lord has spoken! Now walk over here. She knelt down and held out her arms. And somehow, impelled by something stronger than fear, I took a faltering step, and another, and another, until I reached Maum Jean and fell into her arms, both of us weeping.”
“It was two more years before I could walk normally, but I never used the crutches again…..All that happened a long time ago. I live in another town, now. But I still think of Maum Jean often, and the main thing she taught me: that nothing is a barrier when love is strong enough. Not age. Not race. Not anything.”
Cool stuff. Powerful God. Loving God.
Cato
Chuck Swindol, from his radio broadcast
Arthur Gordon, in his book A Touch of Wonder, relates a story he was told that beautifully describes the impact one life can have on another. The man Gordon spoke with had been stricken with polio at age three, and his parents had abandoned him at a New York City hospital. Taken in by a foster family, he was sent to stay with their relatives in Georgia when he was six, in hopes that the warmer climate would improve his condition. What improved his condition, though, was Maum Jean, and elderly, black woman who took that “frail, lost, lonely little boy” into her heart. For six years, she daily massaged his weak legs; administered her own hydrotherapy by making him stand in the current of a nearby creek; and encouraged him spiritually with her stories, songs, and prayers.
“Night after night Maum Jean continued the massaging and praying. Then one morning, when I was about twelve, she told me she had a surprise for me. She led me out into the yard and placed me with my back against an oak tree; I can feel the rough bark of it to this day. She took away my crutches and braces. She moved back a dozen paces and told me that the Lord had spoken to her in a dream. He had said that the time had come for me to walk. So now, said Maum Jean, I want you to walk over here to me.”
“My instant reaction was fear. I knew I couldn’t walk unaided; I had tried. I shrank back against the solid support of the tree. Maum Jean continued to urge me. I burst into tears. I begged. I pleaded. Her voice rose suddenly, no longer gentle and coaxing but full of power and command. You can walk, boy! The Lord has spoken! Now walk over here. She knelt down and held out her arms. And somehow, impelled by something stronger than fear, I took a faltering step, and another, and another, until I reached Maum Jean and fell into her arms, both of us weeping.”
“It was two more years before I could walk normally, but I never used the crutches again…..All that happened a long time ago. I live in another town, now. But I still think of Maum Jean often, and the main thing she taught me: that nothing is a barrier when love is strong enough. Not age. Not race. Not anything.”
Cool stuff. Powerful God. Loving God.
Cato