Fanny Crosby

I love to be out on my back porch just before daylight. Just before the sunrise, I often hear songbirds welcoming a new day. Despite the darkness, we know that the bright light of the sun will soon appear.

Amanda Smith

I remember reading the life story of Amanda Smith when I was a teenager. Her life impacted mine in several ways. Primarily the way that she overcame prejudice, poverty, & religious bigotry. I have not encountered very many people who have even heard of her. So I’ve chosen her as the subject of this blog post & trust that you will be enticed to read more about her remarkable life & contribution to American culture.

Amanda Berry Smith (January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915) was a former slave who became an inspiration to thousands of women both black and white. She was born in Long Green, Maryland, a small town in Baltimore County. Her father’s name was Samuel Berry while her mother’s name was Mariam. Her father, a slave, worked for years at night and after long days of field labour, he had to make brooms and husk mats to pay for freedom for his whole family of 7.

Amanda taught herself how to read by cutting out large letters from newspapers and asking her mother to make them into words. When she was thirteen, only having three and a half months of formal schooling, Amanda went to work near York, Pennsylvania, as the servant of a widow with five children. While there, she attended a revival service at the Methodist Episcopal Church.

She worked hard as a cook and a washerwoman to provide for herself and her daughter after her husband was killed in the American Civil War. Prayer became a way of life for her as she trusted God for shoes, the money to buy her sisters freedom and food for her family. She became well known for her beautiful voice and hence, opportunities to evangelize in the South and West opened up for her. Wherever she travelled, she wore a plain poke bonnet and a brown or black Quaker wrapper, and she carried her own carpetbag suitcase.

In 1876, she was invited to speak and sing in England travelling on a first class cabin provided by her friends. The captain invited her to conduct a religious service on board and she was so modest that the other passengers spread word of her and resulted in her stay in England and Scotland for a year and a half. After her trip, she returned to her homeland and eventually founded the Amanda Smith Orphans’ Home for African-American children in a suburb of Chicago. She continued to visit various nations and gained a reputation as “God’s image carved in ebony.”

Her autobiography was published in 1893.

As you have probably noticed by now I enjoy reading and writing about men & women who have made a difference in the lives that they touched!  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all make a positive difference for Christ in the lives that we touch each day!
 
Charles Spurgeon was a ‘man who made a difference’ in the lives that he touched! He was a great British pastor in London!  I love his story of ‘raising money for the orphans’. He went to Bristol hoping to raise £300, which was a huge amount of money in those days, for the homeless children of London.  At the end of the week his financial goal had been met!
 
That night, as he bowed in prayer, Spurgeon was clearly prompted to give the money to a co-laborer of Christ named George Mueller. “Oh no, Lord,” answered Spurgeon, “I need it for my own dear orphans.” Yet Spurgeon couldn’t shake the idea that God wanted him to part with it. Only when he said, “Yes, Lord, I will,” did he go to sleep.
 
With great peace, he made his way the next morning to Mueller’s orphanage and found the great man of prayer on his knees. The famous minister placed his hand on Mueller’s shoulder and said, “George, God has told me to give you the £300 I’ve collected.” “Oh, my dear brother,” exclaimed Mueller,” I’ve just been asking him for exactly that amount!” The two servants of the Lord wept and rejoiced together.
 
When Spurgeon returned to London, he found an envelope on his desk containing more than £300. The Lord had returned the £300 he had obediently given to Mueller, with 300 shillings of interest!

Charles Spurgeon truly made a difference in the lives he touched that week in Bristol!

Up to this point, all the stories I have shared have been about famous people. Today I want to share a story about a Church & a

Just Give Me FREE Stuff

pastor in rural Oklahoma who most of the world will never know about. Yet, they are quietly making a difference in their part of the world.

This church has recently become a victim of the sluggish economy. Over the past year they have emphasized the theme of

 “The Year of the Child.” The church has focused on reaching out to the children of the community and offering them quality programs and learning environments.

Volunteers have rallied around this theme and their efforts have been rewarded by doubling the number of children that the church is effectively ministering to. As a part of this ‘year of the child’ they decided to build a playground for the children on the church property. Since there is none in the neighborhood, they felt like it would be another source of outreach and provide a place to keep the kids off the street.

They began their fund raising efforts (contributions from the congregation) and slowly gathered what they felt was enough to build the playground. What they didn’t anticipate was the downturn of the economy. Some of the men in the church lost their jobs, there were cost-overruns and funding for the project came to a standstill.

The pastor challenged the people to pray that God would provide the resources for finishing the project and provide the resources for this growing group of children. Little did he know that it would be him, who came up with an ‘inspiration’ as he personally prayed about the problem.

During he was reminded of how our President was so effective in fundraising for his campaign for president. President Obama utilized a source that no one ever tapped into before, Social Media. The two most prominent being; Facebook & Twitter.

So an idea was born. What if he appealed to the Twitter Community? It wouldn’t have to be large amounts that people gave, could be small amounts of 1 to $5, or maybe more. Small amounts add up, remember Jesus miracle of the ‘loaves & fishes.’ “Who knows, the community “might respond” so well, that we could name it ‘Twitter Park’ or something like that, wouldn’t that be cool!

You can DONATE by clicking here>>  Childrens’ Website and scroll down to the Donate Button! Thank you for listening (umm) reading!

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When I was just a very young child my parents taught me the importance of reading good books. They would read to me each night until I learned to read for myself. They always critiqued my books before I read them! Much of my
free time was spent with a good book as my company!

One of the first biographies I remember reading was the life of J.C. Penny! He was a successful retail businessman from Missouri, the 7th of 12 children, and was raised to believe in the Golden Rule. J. C. Penny’s parents also taught him to tithe the first 10% of all his money and he did that throughout his entire life.

The first J. C. Penny store opened in April of 1902. He accepted “cash only” for his goods – no credit! Penney’s store was successful because his customers liked the merchandise and good service! The J. C. Penny Company flourished under the
motto: “Honor, Confidence, Service and Cooperation.”

James Cash Penny died in 1971 at the age of 95. In 2002 J. C. Penny company celebrated 100 years of service and is still today one of American’s largest retailers!

I am thankful that my parents  instilled in me a desire to read! They also taught me at a young age to practice Malachi 3:8-10 and I have never regretted that practice!
I am thankful for Christian parents!