Yesterday, 2 faithful youths, Addy and Gauge, accompanied me to our monthly Oaks/Bethany Visitation. One of their first questions was, "Are we going to sing?" I told them no, unless it was This Little Light of Mine for Aunt Nell. (I didn't want to sing with that few folks, either. I want many voices to cover my clunkers!) We got to the Home a little late, and we headed straight to Aunt Nell (Hodges)'s room. We had a great conversation! First, Addy's parents came to get her, then Gauge had to take off. So, Aunt Nell and I reminisced for about another hour. Aunt Nell turned 90-years-old in February, and I have been a member of the Vidalia First United Methodist Church since the early 1970s. So, we talked a great deal about former members of the church. She reminded me of people that I had not thought about in years. (She remembers better than I do!)
God has blessed me with many godly role models throughout my life. One of my favorites was Aunt Nell's husband, Bill. I detailed to her a special day in my life that occurred in circa 1987. Our pastor, Bill Strickland had presented us with a vision for a Family Life Center. I was a first-year teacher, and had the privilege of being on a committee with a group of men, all much older than I was, to investigate other equivalencies of a Family Life Center. On this Saturday, we traveled all over Georgia. I particularly remember going to Epworth By The Sea and Savannah. If there were other cities, I don't recall them. As we rode in the church van for several hours, I listened to these men, at times in amazement. The one memory that stuck out was one Bill told. The men had to conjole it out of him. Maybe Bill hesitated because of his humble nature and did not want to draw attention to himself. Maybe the memories were tough to dredge up. Whatever the reason, I am thankful the guys kept encouraging him until he recalled several near-death experiences during WWII. I think there were 3 accounts, but I can only recall two of them. During part of his deployment, Bill was required to be in a fox hole with another soldier during bombing. Bill made it a habit to collect shrapnel after explosions. One night, he crawled out of his foxhole to collect shrapnel and while he was out, a bomb exploded in his foxhole and killed his soldier buddy. WOW! Another time, he and a buddy were pulled off an airplane just before takeoff. Bill was mad about this for some reason. His feelings soon changed as he saw the plane go down and explode shortly after take-off. Bill said he didn't know what work the Lord kept him alive for. The other guys said, "You're doing it!" And, he was. My memories of Bill include him being a nice man, which was important to me growing up. There were some mean dudes along the way. Bill was a faithful church member. But, there was so much more to his Christianity.
Jesus said you would know people by their fruits. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.
We know the only perfect man was Jesus, so I won't claim anyone else to be perfect. I know I have never even had one day where I was perfect, but I do believe the Holy Spirit lived in Bill in such a way that ALL these fruits were exhibited! Instead of him dying during WWII, he lived for over 60 years after the war. People like me could look to him to learn what a man of God was.
Don't get me wrong, my parents were great examples for me! I praise God for my family! However, we all have holes in our examples. God has been so good to me for plenty of godly men and women to show me how to live, plus His Word tells me to as well.
I would not trade anything for my visit with Aunt Nell yesterday! I could brag on her just as much, but I think she would enjoy hearing about somebody else because she does not want the spotlight on her. Praise God she shines it on the Lord! Watching the employees enjoy their relationship with her is evidence enough--if you were not already aware of "This Little Light" in her!
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