To set the stage for this thread, our hero, the Circuit Rider Robert Sheffey, is traveling his circuit....
Having passed by Wythe County he was invited to a home where a young teenage girl had given birth to a baby. After hearing that the baby was born out of wedlock he asked a young boy, “Would you go bring me the sheepskin on my saddle, son? The sunbeams are coming through that elm tree at the top of the hill like the very gates of heaven were open. Do not come and get me. I will be down when I am through!”
When he descended the hill all the rest had eaten their dinner and the newborn baby boy lay in his cradle, giving a low, trembling cry.
“Is the girl all right?” He directed his question toward the midwife.
“0’ course she is. The young’uns make a lot of noise, but they’re tough as pine knots.”
He asked if he could have something to eat and as they fixed his plate he talked with the new mother.
“He’s a pretty baby. Have you seen him, Mr. Sheffey? Big feet like mine and all . . . I want you to baptize him too. Brother Sheffey, I know I have sinned. Will God forgive me – and use my son and not curse him?” she began...
“As soon as I eat we will have a family service around the bed of the new mother,” he said to all.
It was clear when he began that nobody in the household was accustomed to family prayer. He could always tell. They squirmed and shuffled and played with their fingers and picked at a thousand pieces of imaginary lint upon their clothing.
“The young sister has confessed her sin to me already,” he began, “and she prays to a loving God to forgive her and use this child. Human mistakes can be turned around and proved a blessing to God, though we must always bear the scars of our failures. I have prayed and asked my dear Lord to make this little one a blessing in this house. I asked the Lord to make this mother a good mother and for this grandmother also to feel a new burst of life as she comes to love the little one. I’m going to ask for more than that, for the storehouse of our Lord is surely bountiful.
He grasped the infant by the foot before he prayed. Timidly, they bowed as he spoke…
“Oh Lord, we have not loved Thee enough, for surely Thy gifts are ten thousand times more generous than we have ever asked. Lord, we ask of Thee a mighty thing today – not to our glory but Thine. Take this little infant boy and make of him Thine advocate who will stand in a hundred pulpits across this land and bring a thousand souls into Thy kingdom. And, Lord, Thy servant Sheffey would like to know Thy plan for this little one’s life. In Jesus name.”
Having passed by Wythe County he was invited to a home where a young teenage girl had given birth to a baby. After hearing that the baby was born out of wedlock he asked a young boy, “Would you go bring me the sheepskin on my saddle, son? The sunbeams are coming through that elm tree at the top of the hill like the very gates of heaven were open. Do not come and get me. I will be down when I am through!”
When he descended the hill all the rest had eaten their dinner and the newborn baby boy lay in his cradle, giving a low, trembling cry.
“Is the girl all right?” He directed his question toward the midwife.
“0’ course she is. The young’uns make a lot of noise, but they’re tough as pine knots.”
He asked if he could have something to eat and as they fixed his plate he talked with the new mother.
“He’s a pretty baby. Have you seen him, Mr. Sheffey? Big feet like mine and all . . . I want you to baptize him too. Brother Sheffey, I know I have sinned. Will God forgive me – and use my son and not curse him?” she began...
“As soon as I eat we will have a family service around the bed of the new mother,” he said to all.
It was clear when he began that nobody in the household was accustomed to family prayer. He could always tell. They squirmed and shuffled and played with their fingers and picked at a thousand pieces of imaginary lint upon their clothing.
“The young sister has confessed her sin to me already,” he began, “and she prays to a loving God to forgive her and use this child. Human mistakes can be turned around and proved a blessing to God, though we must always bear the scars of our failures. I have prayed and asked my dear Lord to make this little one a blessing in this house. I asked the Lord to make this mother a good mother and for this grandmother also to feel a new burst of life as she comes to love the little one. I’m going to ask for more than that, for the storehouse of our Lord is surely bountiful.
He grasped the infant by the foot before he prayed. Timidly, they bowed as he spoke…
“Oh Lord, we have not loved Thee enough, for surely Thy gifts are ten thousand times more generous than we have ever asked. Lord, we ask of Thee a mighty thing today – not to our glory but Thine. Take this little infant boy and make of him Thine advocate who will stand in a hundred pulpits across this land and bring a thousand souls into Thy kingdom. And, Lord, Thy servant Sheffey would like to know Thy plan for this little one’s life. In Jesus name.”
