Introduction
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8

Precious Memories

In the last article I wrote, I remember relating how we were in Tucson, Arizona and how the Lord put us back with Brother and Sister Taylor by a great miracle. When we found out that they were only a few blocks from where we were, we got in the car and drove over to where they were staying and surprised them.

When we got there, we were also surprised because they had a third person with them that we had never met. This woman found out in Cincinnati, Ohio that Brother Frank and Sister Linda had given their hearts to the Lord and were real zealous toward doing the will of God. The Taylors found out that we had slipped off so they wouldn't be influenced in any way by us in making decisions concerning their lives.

We wanted to give them time to pray and seek God and not make any hasty decisions that they might later regret. We knew that if they had really found the pearl of great price then they would be willing to sell all and take up the cross and follow the Lord wherever He might lead them. But this woman knew they were young and inexperienced, so she took full advantage of their new zeal for God. They sold everything they had and she decided to travel with them.

She told them they needed to go on what she called a "Back to the Garden" diet. This required buying all health foods from an expensive health food store instead of going to a regular grocery store. They didn't travel long before most of their money was gone. By the time we were reunited in Tucson, Arizona, they were both about sick and on the verge of a broken marriage because of this woman.

They were glad to see us, and after fellowshipping a while we all had a good meal together, from groceries bought at a grocery store! George told them to forget the diet and to pray and let God heal and deliver them from Satan's hold. Those that keep their minds stayed on Christ Jesus shall have perfect peace. I know it is wise to eat the right foods, but sometimes on the field of evangelism you eat whatever the Lord provides and you pray and God takes care of your health. Jesus was our example, and the Scriptures record how He would stop and get figs from a tree, or the disciples would pluck corn in the fields, or they would catch fish and cook them. We should not keep our minds on what we are going to eat. The Lord knows our needs and will provide our daily bread if we follow Him. The joy of the Lord is our strength, not what we eat.

This woman that was with Brother and Sister Taylor asked George a question. She said they had talked a lot about him and she felt that God could speak to her through him. She wanted to know what he thought about her and her husband's marriage problems since they were separated. George shocked her, as well as us, by answering her, "It is not this marriage that is troubling you. It is your previous marriage!" She had never mentioned to the Taylors or us that she had been married before. The Lord will reveal the secrets of your heart.

I learned a lesson that has stayed with me through the years that I would like to share with you. This woman felt that she was called to preach, and every time I would get around her something would happen to me. I would be feeling fine when I came into her presence, but immediately, it felt as if someone was pouring lead on the inside of me and I would feel terrible and would start resenting her. I would go home and pray and pray and ask the Lord to remove this horrible feeling because I didn't want any part of it. I would feel it lift and felt sure I had the victory over it, but the next time we would go back around her I would feel the same way all over again.

I talked to Sister Linda about this and she confided in me that she had been fighting a similar battle since the woman had been with them and that it was about to split their home up.

I would go back to God in prayer again, sincerely seeking to find out why this feeling would come over me when I would go around her.

One day, I decided to ask George if he had the answer. I explained exactly how I felt, and he teasingly said, "You aren't jealous, are you?" I admit that this kind of upset me, but later he told me he knew that God was trying to use me and I wasn't aware of it, so he just let me go on battling this, until one day, I went face to face with the woman and told her all about it. I told her I didn't want to feel this way toward her, but I just couldn't seem to help it.

She looked at me with a funny expression, but said she would pray about it. Later, she came back and thanked me for facing her in this. She confessed that so many women had felt the same way about her, and she couldn't seem to find fellowship with them, not even with her own relatives. In praying, she said the Lord showed her very plainly that she had taken on a real forward, protruding spirit. Feeling that she was called to preach, she formed a habit of sitting around talking to the men while the women would be in the kitchen preparing meals, etc., and when the meal was ready, she would take her seat at the table with the men and expect to be served. When the meal was finished, she would return to the living room to fellowship while the wives would clean the kitchen. Of course, this caused resentment after a few times. I know we can play the part of Martha and be too concerned about the natural things of life instead of being like Mary and sitting at the feet of Jesus, but I believe there is a time and place for all things, and it is never a woman's place to feel more comfortable around men than she does around women unless the wrong spirit has control of her. This woman had already experienced two broken marriages because of this, so it sure couldn't have been right.

I learned to give thanks to the Lord for all things and to remember He is holy and greatly to be praised.

During the year of 1963 or 1964 while we were in Tucson, Arizona living in a trailer, George had gone up into the mountains to pray. For some reason, I felt a real heavy burden on my heart and had knelt in the living room to pray. Unexpectedly, George returned home and came in real quietly and knelt down and prayed close to me. After a while, when we got up from our knees, George asked me if I could have everything ready to leave the next morning to go back home. I was shocked, because I knew he had planned to stay in Tucson for a while. I questioned him concerning this sudden decision, but he just said he felt to go home.

I got everything ready, knowing we didn't have any money, but I knew if God wanted us to go home, He would provide. Sure enough, early the next morning a delivery truck came driving up to our door with a special delivery letter from Cincinnati, Ohio from a brother in Christ. This letter contained a money order and a testimony saying he had promised the Lord that if his foot was healed after George prayed for him, that he would send the money it would have cost him if he had gone to the doctor to help in the work of God. So God had confirmed the fact we were suppose to go to Georgia.

Later, George told me why he felt to go home. At this time, his family lived in Memphis, Tennessee, while mine lived in Georgia.

On the way to Georgia, we stopped at a roadside park to fix something to eat. While I was cooking, George walked off down into the woods to pray. When he came back and we finished eating, he told me the Lord had spoken to him and told him he was to stop by Memphis, Tennessee to see his family before we went on to Georgia to visit with mine. (The Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.)

So real early on Sunday morning, probably 3 or 4 o'clock, we reached his parent's home and were surprised to see all the lights on and to find them still up. As soon as we greeted them, we found the reason they were up. His youngest brother, who was about 22 years old, was very sick and had been sick for days. George talked to him and prayed for him and he was able to go to sleep. Early on Sunday morning, a local pastor found out we were there and came by and asked George to minister at his church that morning. His brother went to church with us that Sunday morning. Some friends of ours invited us to come over for dinner that next evening and we accepted their invitation. His brother went with us and there was quite a number of people there for dinner, so we prepared the dining room table for the men so they could all eat first.

This sister that we were visiting set George's plate at the head of the table and set his brother's plate to George's left, next to him. As they served the plates, all of a sudden, his brother pushed his plate forward and arose from the table and walked out on the front porch. George said immediately the Lord brought to his mind the vision he had while in Arizona that caused him to come back home. He had not mentioned this vision to me because he didn't want to trouble me. In the vision, he was seated at the head of a long dining room table. My dad was seated to his left. (My dad had severe heart problems at this time.) He said in the vision, all of a sudden, my Dad fell away from the table with heart failure.

George got up and went out on the porch where his brother was, and his brother was having problems breathing and asked him to please take him to the hospital. They carried him to a nearby hospital and they put him in intensive care and diagnosed it as congestive heart failure. He was there for about a week before he went on to be with the Lord. George was torn up, but he realized that God had brought him home to spend some time with his brother before his death.

The question was asked, why did the Lord show George my dad instead of his brother in the vision? I feel sure the reason was that God knew George had to drive from Arizona to Tennessee, and this would have been a terrible weight on him, but by showing it as my dad, George didn't tell me to keep me from being troubled, but was going to bring me home to see him before something happened. God used this to bring him home and waited until he got almost to Memphis before He led him to stop by his parents' home.

I saw the greatness of God and His mercy manifested, and I still thank the Lord for bringing us home so George could spend some time with his brother and talk with him and hear him confess Christ. This was a real consolation, because had we not come, it would have been a crushing thing to receive news of his brother's death so unexpectedly. I have found in serving the Lord Jesus Christ that He has never failed us one time, but His Word is sure and we can depend on every word of it. It has truly been a light to our pathway and a lamp unto our feet.

By Sister Betty Pike

Download a ZIP file of all episodes