|
Sister Marley was a lady preacher who had a
mean streak about her. She appeared to be sweet and kind and always
wanting to be helpful, but when Grace got to know her as a preacher and not
just a family member, She could tell that she wasn't always the saint of a
woman that everyone believed her to be.
She was pastor of a small church in a little
town near the VA. - NC. border. It was a town where every one knew
everyone and nothing could get past Sister Marley. She used the
information she came across to her own advantage. Not everyone knew
the true Sister Marley the way Grace did. You see,
Grace was her little sister. She'd always looked up to her until
she began to get a little older and started taking her own salvation more seriously.
Grace was in church one night, (It was her 16th.
birthday) when Marley was preaching and as the altar
call was given, in her sweet as honey voice she said, "It's time you
give your heart to the Lord, it's time you make right the wrongs in your
life. Come on to this altar and let me pray you through." Grace
was
crying silently as she prayed that God would forgive her of her sins and help
her to start really living the life she knew to be the Christian life.
She sat there and made a commitment to God and to herself that she would be a
witness for Him and would fulfill whatever ministry He would choose for
her.
Sister Marley must of seen those tears and in
her years of experience of reading people, she knew what was
happening. She told Grace to come forward and she would "pray
her through." Grace wasn't exactly sure what that meant,
she felt that she had already touched the throne of Mercy. She could feel the presence
of God and the peace and warmth of His love as she had prayed. But
Marley was her big sis and she thought she must know what's best so she rose from
her seat and went forward. Marley put her hands on Grace's head and began to
pray in her soft voice, then louder and louder she went on and on as if
Grace was the biggest sinner in the world. Grace became self conscience and
embarrassed. What was she doing, there in front of the whole
congregation? It was almost as if she thought she was the one
forgiving her sins and saving her soul from hell. She was very
uncomfortable but every one there thought it was wonderful. This
loving and kind lady preacher taking time to pray her little sister
through. Grace waited until she was through 'praying her through' then went back to
her seat with a feeling of aloneness that she shouldn't of felt after making a commitment to the Lord to do His bidding.
After that night Grace watched Marley closely and
knew that somewhere in her there was a mean streak. But somehow the
people in her church thought she was just right up there next to God
Himself. It was as if her "sweet as honey" voice could put
them in a trance and they would believe every thing she said and do what
ever she asked of them.
Grace began to make excuses to go to other
churches. She just didn't feel good in her sister's church.
She couldn't
judge her and she still did love her, she was her big sister, but something
just didn't feel quite right when Grace tried to worship in her church. It wasn't
long until she was a senior in high school and preparing to go to college so
it wasn't evident to Marley that Grace didn't really have the faith in her as a
preacher that she thought she did. Being a quiet and shy person, she
didn't want her to know, she'd just live her life for Christ and mind her own
business.
In her first year of college she met and fell
in love with a wonderful young man. He was studying to become a
businessman and she was taking some business courses as well as learning
about fashion. She wanted to own and operate her own little boutique
one day. She loved beautiful clothes and thought, how good to be in
a position to work around people and maybe come out of her shell a bit and
learn to talk to people.
After they'd been dating for a couple years
and had shared their hopes and dreams, they decided that they'd love to go into
business together. But first they had to graduate and work a while to save up enough money to buy the store and together
would operate the
boutique and share their lives. She'd do the buying and selling and he
would do all the 'behind the scenes' business.
They were attending the chapel on campus and
their love was so much sweeter
because they both loved the Lord. They promised each other that they
would stay
pure until their marriage vows had been taken. They held true to that
promise, there was no one else in the whole world for either of them and
they wanted their wedding night to be so perfect.
On
graduation day, both families were there to see them get their diplomas
and celebrate with them. When Grace introduced Sister
Marley to Donald, her voice was sweet and soft as she took his hand and
said, "are you aware that Grace is going to need to wait a very long
time before she can get married? I expect her to come and help me
with my ministry. With her education in business I think she'll be a
wonderful asset to the ministry, helping me raise money for my new
church that God has instructed me to build." They just put her
off and started talking to all the other family members, hoping she
wouldn't bring it up again. They already knew exactly what their plans
were. The night before graduation,
Donald and Grace had gone out to eat and while they were there he had slipped a
ring on her finger and asked her to be his wife. Of course she said yes
but they would set a date later, when they were both working and had some idea
of when they could get their business going. One thing she knew for
sure, it would be in their time and Sister Marley would not dictate to
them when or where they would be married. Their love was strong enough to
stand up to her. Not like when she was younger and afraid of
her. Now she had Donald who would stand with her, together they could
face anything or anyone.
|