Читать книгу Live Forever - Mylon Le Fevre - Страница 25

ELBOWS AND THE ENFORCER

Truth be told, I would have preferred to skip church altogether in those days. But I didn’t have a choice. Since my

granddaddy was the preacher, our family had good seats down front in every service—and we were always in

them. As the smallest, I sat right next to my mom in case she needed to elbow me to keep me quiet. I knew the

routine well: If you got three elbows, then you got "the look" which meant she was going to tell Daddy. If Daddy

found out you were acting up in church, you'd better pray fast because you were quickly approaching the valley

of the shadow of death. The only scripture I ever remember Daddy quoting was, “If you spare the rod, you spoil

the child.”

Whether I liked it or not, in my family, going to church was like breathing: Life depended on it.

My grandfather built 39 churches for the Church of God denomination before he finally moved to heaven at 103

years old. My mother, having grown up in the church, determined early on that all of her children would do the

same. Even after traveling all week and sometimes all night, she always got home in time to take her children to

the house of God. As far back as I can remember our family was there every time the doors opened.

Once Momma made the decision that we were going to church, my daddy enforced it without negotiation. There

was no such thing as child abuse in the 1950s and children definitely didn’t sue their parents. If a judge had told

my dad he couldn’t whip his kids, my dad would have whipped the judge!

For years, I went to church not because I loved God, but because my dad was bigger than me. As an angry

adolescent, I vowed that when I got as big as my daddy, I wasn’t ever going to church again, and nobody was ever

going to tell me what to do. I adopted a rebellious attitude that put me on a destructive path and almost cost me

my life.

Today, by the mercy of God, I see things differently. I’m very thankful for my parents’ commitment to my

Christian upbringing. I understand that Mom, the one who first told me about Jesus and taught me to sing for

Him, gave me a priceless gift. Her dedication to her children hearing God’s Word has produced a tremendous

harvest in my life.

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