“The Wedding Rings”
It had only been a little while since God called my parents into the ministry! God was teaching them how to trust, and follow HIS voice. Neither of my parents came from “ministry” families, so this was a journey they knew nothing about.
They had married young. So young in fact, they had to go to Georgia to get married in 1965. The state of Florida would not allow it! So, they took off to Valdosta, GA with my maternal grandmother, to get hitched! Even though he was not a Christian, Daddy knew he wanted to get married in a church! The only church he was familiar with, was the Church of God his parents had started attending. They went to the courthouse, got the marriage license, and found the Valdosta Church of God preacher to marry them. Daddy had scraped up enough money to buy two cheap wedding rings for the occasion. However, the old Church of God preacher would not allow them to use the wedding rings in the quick ceremony. (The Church of God used to teach against wearing jewelry of any kind.) Anyway, they still had those cheap wedding rings when God called them into the ministry.
Fast forward to the mid-70s, they were invited to go preach a revival, but didn’t have enough money to put gas in the mini home. They both agreed to pawn those two wedding rings for about $20. We put gas in that mini home with a broken air conditioner, and we headed off to the revival. When we arrived, the church only had six older people attending! So, the offerings were little to nothing! But Daddy preached his heart out, and people were being saved, delivered, healed & filled!
God miraculously blessed that revival! The church filled up with people, and is still a church today! A lady who was saved in that revival, bought a brand new air conditioner, and paid to have it installed on our mini home! We left that revival with our cupboards full of food, a little extra money in our pockets, a full tank of gas, and full hearts!
Momma & Daddy are in their 58th year of marriage, and they never did replace those wedding rings. No diamond in the world could be worth more than what they gained when they pawned those two cheap rings to go preach the Gospel!
What they gained that day has been passed down to my generation as a forever keepsake of faith from “My View From the Piano!”
PSALM 101 @followers
