Against the Grain

My life was rich. It began with a loving Christian mother with five children. Its wealth continued as our father was abusive, but when he took our car away, my mother made certain we continued to attend church. Our church provided bus service. I couldn't remember how many times I silently got saved in front of the TV watching Billy Graham. Luckily, the Sunday bus ride picked up several cute, eye-candy boys. I made my salvation public as I followed one of them down front to profess my salvation. Playing hopscotch, red rover, baseball, badminton, and many other games with brothers, sisters, and neighbors made older memories precious.

Visiting grandparents and other family in Asheville was the highlight of many holidays and summer. Grandmother's homemade apple butter, red velvet cake, and biscuits made your stomach growl. Watching her make the biscuits so I could learn to one day serve them to my own family was a goal of mine for years. My success in making them was a loud laugh at the dinner table. No matter how many times I tried, it failed. They ended up outside for bird food, but the birds would never eat them. Several attempts broke the lawn mower as it ran over the biscuit rock. Rolling down the hill by their house proved to be great fun till you rolled too fast and knocked down some freshly planted corn in Granddaddy's garden. Watching Grandmother ring a chicken neck then pluck the feathers off was scary till I found out it was supper.

This book contains powerful testimony of the life I was privileged to have because of a loving savior named Jesus. His protection, promise to provide, and love made it easy for me to do the same thing for others.

If you have not accepted himself as your savior, please look out your window. The earth is full of God's love--trees, grass, and flowers all grow upward. Tree limbs raise their arms to him. If we could hear this as it praises him, it would make humanity worship a risen savior. God is real. He really died on that cross for each of us. Believe and ask him into your life. His blood dripped to save you to meet him in heaven. His stripes he took heal us. He's waiting with his loving arms open. Don't wait!