2 Corinthians 12:9
Good News Translation (GNT)
9 But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is
greatest when you are weak.”
Mom graduated from college with a major in elocution. According
to Merriam-Webster, elocution is “the study of how to speak clearly and in a
way that is effective and socially acceptable.” She was known wherever she went
for her ability to hold audiences spell-bound with her readings and talks.
As I grew up, Mom had numerous students who learned to speak
effectively and convincingly under her tutelage. She gave me a few lessons, but
I think she despaired because I had such a huge case of stage fright. When I
had to stand up in class and make a presentation, my mouth would be so dry I
could hardly get any words out, my knees so weak I could hardly stand, and my
shirt soaked with fear-produced sweat.
Yet in college I trained to be a teacher. I still don’t
understand why. I had to do practice teaching before I graduated, and this was an
ordeal that I endured as a necessary evil. In graduate school I took a yearlong
topology class taught by the “Moore Method.” The basic idea of this method was
that each student had to present the proof of a theorem. The fellow students
were expected to criticize the presentation—and they did, viciously. I dreaded
that class; however, I never thought of dropping it and finding another way
around it. My first presentations were shredded into tiny pieces, each piece
contemptuously discarded. As the year went along, my presentations improved to
the point that I could do them flawlessly. When I chose a topic for my
dissertation, it was in topology because I knew that there was hardly any
result I couldn’t prove.
A couple years ago I went with my wife to her Toastmasters
Club. I was there purely as a guest and an observer. I was shocked when someone
said, “Sylvia has brought a guest; let’s give him a topic to speak on.” I stood
up and started speaking although I had no idea what I was going to say. An
African experience of ours came to mind, and I told it with confidence.
A couple weeks ago Sylvia brought a friend from Toastmasters
along on a tour we were on. I introduced myself to her, and she replied, “Oh I
know you! You came to Toastmasters some years ago and told us that African
experience. That was so interesting!”
Indeed God has taken a very weak part of me and by His grace
has made it strong.
Thank you, Lord, for
taking our weaknesses and bolstering them by Your grace.
In past correspondences I became aware that you had a father. At some point you posted me his picture accompanied by another old lady that he had taken in as a wife believably because your mom was no more.
ReplyDeleteMy mother had died in 1978, of uterus rupture, after delivering her 12th child Jeremiah who is now the revenue officer of Ilala Municipality of Dar es salaam city. It was a time when the family needed her support most. She had been a very had working lady caring and providing food for us in such a large household. With her keen support, I and my brother had joined the university studies. My other three brothers were lined up in the secondary schools followed by those in the primaries. Our family in Kobori village of Tarime district was 'stealing' the show in education. In Tanzania this was a fast climb of the 'social ladder'. My Dad a peasant and literature evangelist needed all her support. That is exactly the moment she demised. I sorrowed and never recovered from a feeling of loss for more than 20 years. The Lord is good. My father survived to tell the goods of Rebeca my mother, for 36 years when he died gracefully only in November 29, 2013. At 91 he was a very old man. He had married again to a young girl Esta, who already begot 8 kids. I am virtually their father because I have to provide for their school fees, as well as, my own. Earlier on, while encouraging dad to remarry, I had promised him that I would help care for his new family of the old age. When dad died, unlike my mother, very few of us wailed for his demise. We instead slaughtered oxen after oxen for a week and villagers came forth to eat.
Unlike before, you now mention of your mom often. You almost impress that she was good for you to recall after all these years. When did she die
and under what circumstances. What was the impact of her demise to your family.