the one whose mother did so much for the Lord
In the fifties, when Dr. David Gibbs was 8 years, his mother contracted polio and was hospitalized for over 2 years. She returned to the house in a wheelchair, wearing an iron mask that helped her to sit up-right in the chair and to aid her breathing. She could hardly feed herself and had to be assisted in virtually everything.
Just shortly after she returned home, their pastor came around to greet the family, and to deliver a terrible news: that the leadership of the church had voted against her returning to the church because of the fear of other parishioners contracting polio from her. She was devastated. Before the affliction, she had been the church organist – a duty she had joyfully and faithfully carried out for many years. Despite her husband’s plea with the pastor, he insisted that was the decision of the leadership of the assembly.
When the pastor left, Mrs Gibbs cried out to GOD, “If You’ll use me as I am, I will still serve You, LORD.” Not long afterwards, a young man came to town, who believed that GOD had sent him there to plant a new church. Sharing his vision with the Gibbs, David’s mom said, “If you’ll let me, I can teach the children Sunday school.” The young pastor was elated.
The New Church began with the man and the Gibbs. With only David and his sister in the Sunday school, Mrs Gibbs taught them with great passion, so much so that word began to spread of a woman wearing an iron mask, teaching Sunday school in a wheelchair.
Many children, out of curiosity, came to see that ‘woman,’ and kept coming every Sunday. Within some few years, the church needed buses to start conveying the children (and, I’m sure, their parents too) to and fro.
That’s a phenomenal example of what GOD can do with a SOUL that is YIELDED and WILLING. Are you? Am I? Are we, His Church, yielded and willing?
Selah!
DA