by Linda Van Fleet
My mother was a woman of strong faith that started as a tender plant when she was a young child and grew stronger each passing year. I loved to listen to her stories of how God intervened in their lives when she and my dad were first married. One story that brought awe to my heart was the story of how she lifted a huge log to keep her new stepdaughter from being crushed to death.
“Betty, don’t play on those logs!” Mom sternly admonished the four year old little girl she had inherited with her marriage to my dad. She was washing clothes by hand using a scrub board while bending over a large iron pot filled with hot water, steam and smoke clouding her vision. It was backbreaking labor for any normal, healthy farm girl in the 1930’s. It was even harder on one who was seventeen years old and pregnant with her first child. Through the haze and smoke she saw her young stepchild make a mad dash toward the huge pile of logs and scurry to the top. In an instant Betty was jumping up and down on the top of the pile of logs, laughing down at her new mother who was horrified at what she was witnessing.
“Betty!” Mom screamed as the log Betty was dancing on began to roll off the top taking her with it. In a flash the child’s legs and hips were pressed underneath the huge tree trunk and there was no way to get her out. If the log moved even one inch, Betty’s chest would be crushed. She would die.
Unwilling to stand there and watch her little daughter be crushed to death, Mom grabbed hold of the end of the tree trunk and tried to lift it off the helpless child. It wouldn’t budge. “Oh God!” Mom prayed, “Help me now.” She put all her weight into lifting the log again. Suddenly it was weightless. She lifted the huge log and held it up with one hand, reaching with the other to pull Betty out of harm’s way. After Betty was safe she dropped the log and collapsed beside the child, holding her in her arms and thanking God for His strong hands that were placed beneath hers to do the impossible.
Through the years of raising Betty and eleven other strong-willed children, Mom was always a woman of remarkable faith. She learned through experience to trust in Jesus. He was her strength. Holding up her ten fingers, Mom would say, “When I’m faced with the impossible, I just remember these ten fingers and say my ten finger prayer.” Then pointing to each finger on both hands, Mom recited the prayer: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
About the Author
Linda Van Fleet is the founder of www.I Believe in Angels.com
Copyright 2004 by Linda Van Fleet, all rights reserved. Content, graphics, and HTML code are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission.