One More Day
May 10, 2020 | by Nancy Newbrough
Faith at times is so difficult to hold onto, especially in this current pandemic! Yet as one trusts the Lord and sees Him working, it builds faith in our great God! My faith has steadily increased in measure from the time I was a little girl until my present days of retirement. I have seen God‘s faithfulness in so many little things as well as “big” ones. Oh, prayers do not always get answered the way I want … but they always turn out the way God wants and always so much better than I could even imagine!
Mother’s Day has given me reason to recollect on what great parents God blessed me with. When I was born as the third of four children, Dad owned his own business and had recently built a new house for our family. Three years later, just after my youngest sister was born, my dad felt God‘s call on his life to go into the ministry. When he went to share his calling with my mother -- before he could say a word, she said: “God has called you into ministry!” The Lord had also been talking to my mom! So they packed up, rented the house, and moved to a small town with a Christian college where Dad could take classes. He also pastored a small country church.
Next my dad was called to be the pastor at another country church that was 20 miles from any town. I remember the parsonage sat next to the church right on the highway. I could never forget that it did not have running water! The inconvenience, especially for my mom, is unimaginable today. Picture cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and bathing kids with no running water on site! The water was hauled in and stored in a cistern -- so all water had to be boiled! My brother and I had the dreaded chore of cleaning out the cistern in between water hauls.
My dad had a study in this house, and many were the times I walked past and saw him on his knees praying with his Bible in front of him. I am sure the water situation was something he often prayed about because one evening he came out and said the Lord was telling him to dig a well. So we prayed about it as a family, and he proceeded to have someone come out and discern where to dig the well.
A drilling company was hired. Several days of drilling went by, but there was no water. Finally, the foreman came to Dad and said they had dug deep enough to know they were not going to hit water. He felt they should give up. My dad listened to him, then asked him to come back one more day. That night in his study, my dad was on his knees again. After reminding the Lord about His directions to dig the well, my dad asked what to do now. The next morning Dad instructed the crew to drill one more day. Then Dad had to go into town and left.
Shortly after starting, to their utter amazement, the crew hit water. Since this was decades before cell phones, there was no way to contact Dad. When he got home that afternoon and saw the water flowing, Dad was beyond excited! “God told me to keep drilling,” he exclaimed. How we celebrated that night! God had answered yet another prayer! We rejoiced and praised God as a family (probably no one more than my mother) and then again as a church! The well is still pumping water to this day, so many, many years later — a testament to God’s unfathomable faithfulness to provide for our needs!
I am so grateful for the Christian heritage of my family, especially the incredible example of fervently, consistently praying and trusting God that my parents modeled for me. It has definitely influenced and guided my faith and trust journey through the years. Truly, I am “blessed beyond measure” and know “Who holds my tomorrow!” Great is Your faithfulness! Your mercies are new every morning!
May God surprise you with a special blessing of His love!
B.B.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1