Snowy Morning Review and Mrs. Hawes

Who knew?  4 inches of snow and still falling.  Ground cold for 3 days, so everything "sticks".  Good morning to review, and make a new book outline.  What stands out as the most impact of one event?

For understanding the place of missions in some folks hearts, it would have to be Mrs. Hawes and the gift.

Mrs. Hawes lived in the South Liberty oil field, IN the field in a shack made of scrap wood, covered with tar-paper.  Her cooking and heat was from a pipe that ran directly from a well, just the throw-away gas, salvaged.  Water from a faucet somewhere, but quite a definition of poor.

She gathered pecans that year, all along the Trinity River bottoms, and took them up to the highway that ran to Houston, selling on the roadside.  But for the last week, she'd been home, her dentures broken.   She was getting money together to get them fixes.  My dad went to visit her on Monday.

When he came in, she apologized for missing, specially because it was Mission Sunday, and she always gave a gift for missions.  She handed him $5:  "This is mine, thanks for taking it and putting it with the others."

"But, Mrs. Hawes, you're getting money together to fix your teeth!"

"That will come along, but this was Mission Sunday.  I just don't miss that!"  Nothing would do but for Dad to take her gift.

He knew how poor she was.  He knew that was pecan money, planned for denture repair.

Plain, simple, unmistakeable, generous, focused, exactly the attitude Jesus told us to have every day.  But rarely seen.  We give out of our surplus, after the needs are met.  Mrs. Hawes didn't do it that way.

It's been 54 years since that moment, but every time there's an offering destined for mission work, that sweet lady's face comes to mind.  I've known missionary families, been a type of missionary, studied all the maps and charts and history.  But the persuasive moment that is always fresh is Mrs. Hawes.

All of us find our highest motivation for performance, accomplishment, academic achievement, whatever, from something just like that.

Thank God for His disciples who reflect His Word and will.