CHAPER EIGHT - BEAUTY FOR ASHES

CHAPTER EIGHT
Beauty for Ashes


"The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty;
he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he
will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17

"Oh no," I thought as I looked out the window. There, coming down my long dirt driveway, were two women headed for my front door. Thinking they were representatives from a local cult, I braced myself for the usual pitch. "Do you know the end of the world is coming? You need to buy one of our books and maybe you can escape the great tribulation."

Taking a deep breath and mustering up a smile, I answered the door. A disgusted and disgruntled woman with a pretty young teenager standing behind her met me as I opened the door. "Can we use your phone?" Sweat was pouring down their faces as she quickly explained that their car had broken down with a flat tire, and they were stranded on the highway.

Relieved they weren't religious proselytizers, I said, "Sure," and invited them in. Leading them to the telephone I tried not to be obvious in staring at them. The woman began cursing and berating the person on the other end of the line. The teenage girl was noticeably embarrassed by her mother's outburst. If there had been a trap door handy, she no doubt would have disappeared out of sight.

After a few more expletives, the lady told me help would soon be on the way. As she started to leave, I immediately sensed this was a woman who needed a friend. "Wouldn't you like to wait here in the house until your help comes?" I asked. "I bet a glass of iced tea would taste good right now."

Trying to make her feel relaxed I went to the refrigerator and got out the tea and began making small talk about how hot it was and how we women were sure at a disadvantage when it came to changing tires.

While they were waiting for help to arrive, I learned the woman's name was Jeanette. Laura was one of her six children. From Jeanette's point of view, life was pretty rotten. It wasn't long before I found out she hated everything and everybody. Needless to say, being broken down on Highway 26 on a hot, humid Georgia day sure didn't help her outlook. As they left my house, I invited them to come back and see me sometime.

Jeanette did!

In fact, she came back nearly every day for a month! She was at our house first thing in the morning before Charlie left for work. She came back again in the afternoons, many times staying until evening. It began to wear thin on Charlie. "Honey, that woman is wasting your time," he said as kindly as he could. By the end of the month, he knew Jeanette was on my mind and heart constantly.

"No she's not!" I had argued defensively. "She's going to get saved and so is her whole family!" I was adamant. This was one fish I was determined to catch. She needed Jesus in the worst way. I could look past her cussing and addictions... beyond her rotten attitude toward life...toward people. I just knew God loved her, and He had put His love in my heart for this bitter woman.

Then one day it happened. Just like I knew it would! She had come over early (again). It had rained heavily the night before. Our dining room ceiling had been leaking for years, and Charlie and I were emptying pots and pans so we could replace them under the dripping ceiling. Jeanette, by this time, was like a family member, and she began to help.

Getting that job done, we all sat down on the floor and, amid the pots and pans, enjoyed a cup of coffee. No pretense at the Tuck house...that's for sure. In thinking back, I'm not sure just how the conversation came up, but I knew this was the time and the place. (Some fishing hole!)

"Jeanette," I asked, "wouldn't you like to have Jesus in your life?" Jeanette nodded her head in silent affirmation; we then prayed with her and a new life began for Jeanette.


The change was incredible. Gone was her addiction to valium. After five years of popping pills, she was free! Gone was the griping and complaining. Everyone could see the difference in Jeanette.

Her plunge into the Word of God was as intense as her bitterness toward life had been. She began to grasp truths that many theologians have missed. Her love for people was real and genuine. Her concern for others was preeminent in her life. She couldn't do enough, give enough, or pray enough.

One night after six months she thought, "This just can't be true. I must be making this whole thing up. God just couldn't love me the way I think He does." Going into her bathroom, despondent over her disturbing thoughts, she reached for the bottle of valium that had been shoved to the back of the medicine cabinet. As she began to open it, she suddenly stopped and said, "No! Lord, I'm going back to bed and if you are real, you'll just have to give me a sign."

All her life Jeanette had felt unloved. Her mother had died in childbirth, and so she had never experienced what many of us take for granted...a mother's touch. There was no one to kiss away the hurts. No one to take her in their arms and smooth her hair and tell her she was precious; only an alcoholic father who sent her to live with one relative after another.

At night she would gaze out her window and beg God to send someone to love her. But no one came.

Now she was putting God to the test. He had never answered her pleas before, but she had to know. The bottle of valium tucked back into the cabinet, she climbed into bed. "Are you real God?"

As she drifted off to sleep, the Lord tenderly came to her in a dream. As Jeanette tells it, she saw Jesus coming toward her with His arms outstretched. He was wearing the most beautiful robe she had ever seen.

"The robe was green and blue and purple," she recounts. "It was made of an iridescent fabric and it flowed as He walked toward me." With tears in her eyes she said, "I'll never forget it. He was singing to me. To me! He was singing, 'Jeanette, you are so beautiful.' He sang it over and over and each time He sang my name."

She never doubted again. Not even when her son David was struck with leukemia. The doctors said they had done all they could. But they couldn't shake her faith in a God that loved her; a God who sang to her.

Ten year old David was swollen from drugs, bald from chemotherapy treatments and pitifully weak from the disease that was sapping his life. But Jeanette remembered the song.

When David walked out of the hospital, totally healed, the doctor said in amazement, "I didn't believe you, Jeanette. I didn't believe David could be healed, but I was wrong. He's 100% cured. The only problem is that he will never be able to have children...but he will live!"

Fifteen years later David and his wife Laurie are the proud parents of a healthy baby girl! Jeanette and David have been on television in Savannah to tell their marvelous story. Helping others find hope against all odds, Jeanette has worked tirelessly for the Leukemia Foundation. Jesus is still singing to Jeanette.

Her ten year old grandson Brenton, is learning the song, too. After watching him suffer with horrible, disfiguring warts on his hands for two years, Jeanette looked at him and said, "Brenton, I'm sick and tired of your warts. Let's get rid of them once and for all." The doctors had tried everything. Brenton was embarrassed by this condition and had cooperated in every way possible with various treatments. Nothing worked.

On their knees they turned the problem over to the Lord. Tucking Brenton in bed that night, Jeanette reassured him the Lord would take care of the problem. The next morning as Brenton awoke he was almost afraid to look. But Grandma said they would be gone. Pulling his hands from beneath the covers he let out a scream. "They're gone! They're gone!" Running down the hallway he met his grandmother. They laughed and hugged, and Brenton told me later, "We never could find any of those warts." Two years have passed and his hands are still smooth and scar free. Today Brenton's hands look beautiful.

You know, I believe I've heard the song, too!

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord,

I have so much going on today, but help me to entertain strangers if they come my way. Cause me to see past the frailties of fellow human beings and realize that each and every one of them is special to you. There is so much potential in everyone, Lord…talents and abilities just waiting to spring forth. Help me to see what you see in people, Lord.

In Jesus name,
Amen