While visiting with Mrs. Johnnie Keith last week, we remembered testimonies we had heard several years ago, given by other Christian ladies in the community. I never will forget the account of Mrs. Jean Thrash, so respected by those in her church and town and now gone on to be with the Lord. She told my husband Royce and me of an experience she had while in the hospital battling cancer. I later heard her tell the story from the pulpit, as she testified in Clarke-Venable Baptist Church. God had helped her in her struggle against cancer in the years before we moved here and became blessed by her friendship.
During one particular time of sickness, He gave her what some would call a “near-death experience,” with a feeling of peace and joy, even while she went through the “valley of the shadow of death.” She came out of this, only to later succumb to the disease, but not before giving many of us an increased assurance of God’s faithfulness and love.
Another testimony given about that same time was that of Mrs. Elaine Taylor, also a member of Clarke-Venable, who is loved and known for her faithfulness in giving her time to the church and for her caramel cakes! Ms. Elaine told of the fears she had when her husband died, of being alone and vulnerable in her home. I remember that she said she knelt down by her bed and prayed for God to protect her and take her fears away.
She had testified back then that He had done so, which was a miraculous thing to her, as she had been very afraid. When I spoke with her today, she added, “I was literally scared to death of bad weather but He also completely took that fear away!” I learned that the Lord has been answering those specific prayers for quite a number of years now.
As I felt sure Ms. Elaine had more to tell about the goodness of God, and her life here in Decatur, I asked her to share some of that story with us. Born in Decatur about eighty-eight years ago, Ms. Elaine was the youngest of four children of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Freeman.
As we were sitting in Clarke-Venable Memorial Baptist Church, she said “I was brought up in this church. I was saved and baptized here.” She had attended this church her entire life, except for a couple brief times when she and her husband moved away then back. When I asked about her Christian experience, Ms. Elaine testified, “I was twelve years old when I was saved. It changed my life completely!”
I hope none of my grandchildren have to go through what she and Mr. George W. Taylor, Sr., experienced when they were married. She told of how they went to school together and dated about three years. After marrying her one night, he left the next day to fight in WWII. She said communication was not as it is now. She learned, on two separate occasions, by telegram, of his having been wounded and of his being “Missing in Action!”
Ms. Elaine declared that she grew up in those two years, and she also agreed that she had learned to pray! After two years stationed in Italy, he returned home, where they finally began their family. They had two sons, George Jr., and Gerald, who, together with their wives, have given her five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. “They take very good care of me,” she declared. After they had been married 54 years, Mr. Taylor passed away in 1998.
Though we agreed that American life is entirely different now from when she was brought up here, I asked what she likes best about Decatur, to which she replied, “Decatur has always been my home. I’ve always just loved the town, the church, and the people are all so friendly and nice.” I cannot help but agree with that assessment, to a great extent.
I also agreed wholeheartedly with her concerning her testimony of being saved as a child. I was saved at the age of nine, and I must also say it “changed my life completely.” One might ask how one’s life could be changed so much when just a child, but Ms. Elaine and I talked of how we would have been completely different people throughout our lives if we had not received Christ as our Saviour. As a believer in Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins, we also receive His Father to be ours, and He always takes care of His own!
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
