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Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt

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Joy came to me one day and asked me to pray for her that Godwould enable her to play <strong>the</strong> guitar, so I laid my hands upon herand prayed. Joy had learned no music, but from that time, shesang and played beautifully. Shortly afterward, she met and marrieda Canadian evangelist.None of <strong>the</strong> many bless<strong>in</strong>gs would have occurred to this family ifthat one man, out of <strong>the</strong> thousands of people mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>ir waydown to <strong>the</strong> seaside, had not seen <strong>the</strong> value hidden <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> oldcoalhouse. He had a vision and saw what <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r people didn’tsee. When we envision, ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong> a coalhouse or a ru<strong>in</strong>ed life,what o<strong>the</strong>rs don’t, <strong>the</strong>n, thank God, hope burns and births aga<strong>in</strong>where <strong>the</strong>re is no hope.“Dad, do you th<strong>in</strong>k it is possible to br<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> girls toyour meet<strong>in</strong>g to be dedicated to <strong>the</strong> Lord?”After our move to Bron Wendon <strong>in</strong> Wales, I asked my son, Steve,now a build<strong>in</strong>g subcontractor, to come up and do a job for me.When Steve was a boy, he would sometimes fall asleep <strong>in</strong> mymeet<strong>in</strong>gs with his mouth wide open, quite un<strong>in</strong>terested. The yearsrolled by, and Steve spent a time <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> army, wander<strong>in</strong>g, drift<strong>in</strong>g,dr<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g, and do<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> th<strong>in</strong>gs people do who are awayfrom God.We all have troubles with people we know, people we live withand work with. And because <strong>the</strong>re is sandpaper <strong>in</strong> me and sandpaper<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>m, we rub each o<strong>the</strong>r. Instead of tak<strong>in</strong>g any blame,we blame <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r sandpaper for <strong>the</strong> agitation. My trouble isnot <strong>the</strong> trouble. My trouble is <strong>in</strong> my attitude toward a situationor a person — sometimes my children. In spite of <strong>the</strong> way he wasliv<strong>in</strong>g, though, Steve still knew we loved him.When Steve f<strong>in</strong>ished <strong>the</strong> work I had asked him to do, he said,“Dad, do you th<strong>in</strong>k it is possible to br<strong>in</strong>g my two girls <strong>in</strong>to yourmeet<strong>in</strong>g to be dedicated to <strong>the</strong> Lord?”I was amazed. This was from somebody who, as far as I knew,was as much <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Lord as a codfish would be <strong>in</strong>Shakespeare. The night Steve brought <strong>the</strong> girls to <strong>the</strong> meet<strong>in</strong>g, hecame himself. The Spirit of God fell upon him and he has neverbeen <strong>the</strong> same.225

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