I would have been around nine years old. We lived out on an eighty acre farm on Ferguson Road in Jefferson County. It was a small two bedroom house with slate siding it. It sat on top of a hill and had a circle rock driveway in front of the house. It had a crooked masonite awning covering the kitchen window that Dad installed to stop the sun from glaring through the window. It was home.
It was a windy spring day, similar to some of the days that we had this week. The wind was blowing form the south at 15-20 miles per hour. We heard that there was a fire coming our way. I don't know how we knew. We might have received a phone call or a neighbor dropped by. I remember our neighbors coming over with their tractors with plows on the back. They were going to plow around the house to create a barrier so the fire would not burn up the house and all of our belongings. Also they had water tank in the back of the pickup that they were going to use to soak the ground to slow down the fire.
Dad and the farmers in our neck of the woods were outside getting to work, Mom and I were inside our home. I remember Mom and I knelling beside our couch and resting our elbows on the coffee table. Mom prayed. She prayed that God would keep us safe and save our home and all of our belongings. After she prayed it was time to get back to work.. We started loading stuff into my brother Rich's Ford Fairlane. Ford Fairlane's are not very big, so we had to be choosy about what to keep and what to leave behind.
Everything was happening quickly. I do remember some of the stuff we loaded into the car. I'm sure we had some clothes, Mom's purse, money, pictures, Bibles, baseball glove, basketball, football, etc. That Ford Fairlane never left the drive way. We never found out if the ground that the neighbors plowed was wide enough for the fire to not jump over. We never found out if we had soaked the grass enough to quinch the thirst of the fire. The fire never burned one blade of grass on our place. The wind miraculously switched directions.
One thing I did find out that day was that God answsers prayer. God answers Mom's prayers, I considered Mom, my go to person to pray for me. Sure I prayed about my own problems like we all do, but I believe the real power is when someone else prays for us and our problems. Their is a verse in the Bible that says, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person availeth much.
Yesterday, my Mom passed away. I am going to miss her big time. I am going to miss her prayers, every single one of them. She has prayed for all of our families. She has prayed when we were sick, when our kids and grand kids were sick, when we needed jobs or money and the list goes on and on. I don't fully realized yet how much I am going to miss her prayers.
I went to visit my Mom on Sunday night when I got off work. She was struggling but still able to talk and we had a great visit. I knew that this was probably my last time with her. She made a statement that summed up how she felt. She said, I either want to get better or die. I know that was Mom's prayer that night when she went to bed. God answered her prayer, one last time.
It was a windy spring day, similar to some of the days that we had this week. The wind was blowing form the south at 15-20 miles per hour. We heard that there was a fire coming our way. I don't know how we knew. We might have received a phone call or a neighbor dropped by. I remember our neighbors coming over with their tractors with plows on the back. They were going to plow around the house to create a barrier so the fire would not burn up the house and all of our belongings. Also they had water tank in the back of the pickup that they were going to use to soak the ground to slow down the fire.
Dad and the farmers in our neck of the woods were outside getting to work, Mom and I were inside our home. I remember Mom and I knelling beside our couch and resting our elbows on the coffee table. Mom prayed. She prayed that God would keep us safe and save our home and all of our belongings. After she prayed it was time to get back to work.. We started loading stuff into my brother Rich's Ford Fairlane. Ford Fairlane's are not very big, so we had to be choosy about what to keep and what to leave behind.
Everything was happening quickly. I do remember some of the stuff we loaded into the car. I'm sure we had some clothes, Mom's purse, money, pictures, Bibles, baseball glove, basketball, football, etc. That Ford Fairlane never left the drive way. We never found out if the ground that the neighbors plowed was wide enough for the fire to not jump over. We never found out if we had soaked the grass enough to quinch the thirst of the fire. The fire never burned one blade of grass on our place. The wind miraculously switched directions.
One thing I did find out that day was that God answsers prayer. God answers Mom's prayers, I considered Mom, my go to person to pray for me. Sure I prayed about my own problems like we all do, but I believe the real power is when someone else prays for us and our problems. Their is a verse in the Bible that says, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person availeth much.
Yesterday, my Mom passed away. I am going to miss her big time. I am going to miss her prayers, every single one of them. She has prayed for all of our families. She has prayed when we were sick, when our kids and grand kids were sick, when we needed jobs or money and the list goes on and on. I don't fully realized yet how much I am going to miss her prayers.
I went to visit my Mom on Sunday night when I got off work. She was struggling but still able to talk and we had a great visit. I knew that this was probably my last time with her. She made a statement that summed up how she felt. She said, I either want to get better or die. I know that was Mom's prayer that night when she went to bed. God answered her prayer, one last time.