War Cry - November, 2014 Page 25

The War Cry | NOVEMBER 2014

without saying a word... empty-handed but full. She
never saw him again.

Auntie was the eighth child of Salvation Army

parents and was born on the mission field in China.
She was raised on a rich diet of biblical truths and
life�changing stories. Her mother died when she was
only three and her father remarried when she was
seven... but this time his choice was the beginning of
the end. Grandpa's new wife was everything you don't
want in a loving home full of growing children; she was
full of mean�spirited threats and punishment. And to
add to the woes she brought her adult son, the apple of
her eye, into the same house to
live with four teenage
girls and two young
boys. It was bad from
the start and got
worse; her son could do
no wrong in mother's
eyes... but he did.

Grandpa was away all day at

work and didn't get home until 9:00 at night, but
his new wife saved up an accounting of all the
bad things his children had done that day and

required that he get them out of bed and punish
them. This he did. It is no wonder his
children grew to dread their lives
under this family roof.

Auntie Grace, just a little tyke in

this home, had pretty much been
protected by her four older sisters
and survived to adulthood still loving
her papa. She went on to marry and
raised four youngsters. When they
were all grown she settled into an
inherited small house in a California
college town. Hippies had taken over
the house during its vacant days, sold
all the furnishings and wouldn't
budge. However, one rocking chair was left and auntie
was determined to take over her home. She pulled the
chair into the living room, sat herself down and sang
hymns from morning `til night... it only took a few days. A
lot of work was needed to restore the old place, which was
nearly a century old, but she found folks to help.

Her home was near a bus stop, where many people grew

weary waiting because there was no place to sit. She opened
her door to any and all who wished to come inside to wait.
They were offered a drink of water and a little gospel. I
was surprised one day to arrive and find the living room

full, only to be told that the bus was expected soon.

Her childhood and young adult life had not been easy,

being filled with heartbreaks, hardships, setbacks and pain.

In her older years she still smiled easily most of the

time. Even though life was still hard, her focus was
more upon eternity than the present. She still spoke
lovingly of her papa.

On a visit one day while we were driving off to her

favorite restaurant, she spontaneously recited a stanza
from a long forgotten poem, "Life's Scars," by Ella

Wheeler Wilcox: "They say the world is round, and yet I

often think it square. So many little hurts we get from
corners here and there... We flatter those we scarcely
know, we please the fleeting guest... The only folks who
give us pain are those we love the best."

Now that she's gone, I think about the

hurts she suffered during those years
when those who were supposed to care
the most mistreated her. She had a
very well developed "little girl" deep
within her personality who had never
fully matured. She sought out new ways
to witness, to demonstrate God's love
and to share her meager substance
with those in need. Her home was opened
to others needing a place to live and she
shared her kitchen and bath with them.

She was a friend to God and man, an

angel on loan... Her home for service

was at the local Salvation Army corps.

And to complete this story of Auntie Grace, it was

reported many years later in Readers Digest and on

Christian TV that the knife-wielding thief who stayed

for pancakes turned his life around, found Jesus and

went on to witness and testify. He would relate the
account of his break-in to a lady's home, how she had
jumped up and cooked pancakes for him and planted
the seed that was the turning point of his life. We
must never lose sight of the influence of one life.

Donald Clinton lives in Los Angeles.

HE HAD COME TO ROB
AND NOW HE HAD
PANCAKES AND
PREACHING!

The author with his Aunt Grace, "an
angel on loan."