Humble Beginnings

I was innocent and had not been "around the block." I had not known any man intimately, including my spouse, until we married when I was thirty-one years old.

I give honor to God as the head of my life, and I thanked him for his salvation, a gift so full and free, purchased by the precious blood of Jesus on Calvary. Yes, he included me, and I'm glad his gift was free. Otherwise, with my humble beginnings, I couldn't have afforded it.

The Lord understands everything we encounter, for his situation was worse than ours. John 3:16 says that Jesus came to save us. He was even homeless for a few days when his earthly parents traveled to the small town of Bethlehem and found that there was no room at the inn. Jesus's mother, Mary, experienced a virgin birth. Spiritual conception within her gave birth to our Lord so that sinful mankind could be regenerated.

So much good came from the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. No matter what pain we feel in life, he cares about us. Whether we live in the suburbs, on a farm, or in the hood, God sees each of us as somebody, and he will make our lives brand new with newborn souls.

In our society, some women in the church were virgins in their thirties when they married their husbands. Some even lived in the projects, and believe it or not, though they were monetarily poor, they were spiritually rich. Any children born to them were conceived naturally by men. Only Jesus Christ was ever born of a virgin.

God's Son experienced being alone, hurt, misused, misunderstood, heartbroken, beaten with numerous stripes, abandoned, disappointed, rejected, and despised by men. He was left alone to pray when the Jewish leaders put him on death row. In the end, he was crucified. Jesus Christ has felt whatever anguish you feel in life. He is able to identify with your pain, for he is acquainted with grief, heartache, misery, and abuse from society and the system. Even when people only want to be around you when it is to their benefit, or when they try to take credit for what you have done, God understands what you are dealing with. Read Hebrews 12:1–3 (KJV).

I thank God that I was reared in the small town of Warren with a close-knit family, including my biological nieces and nephews. We had a wonderful church family who demonstrated agape love, and my sisters' and brothers' children — Patricia, Kevin, and Robert Jr. — often spent the night with us and were like siblings. Many more have since come on the scene, and they are special and talented.

We all loved each other and had great times during the holidays and weekends. Sometimes we children held different perspectives on things, but we still loved one another, and I always valued my sisters' and brothers' opinions. I will always love my entire family, including my awesome sisters, Brenda, Barbara K., and Bobbie Jean Tootie, and my wonderful brothers, Willie, Joe, and Robert W., who taught school down south and resided with Grandma Ida and Baby Sister (my cousin who was like a sister). Little sister always cooked on the holidays, and she housed and brought together family and friends at her Single and Saved Embracing a Celibate Life home. During those times, everybody was somebody, and we all cared about people, from the least to the greatest. What a blessing to be connected to so many good people in town and abroad!

These were humble beginnings, but our mom, Mother W. M. Davis, loved all of her children. She instilled biblical principles in us, and she taught us about the power of prayer and the importance of living a saved, sanctified life. When embracing holiness, she always strove to attend to her own business. She had a meek, humble, and quiet spirit. I remember her taking me to the Mayes household during my childhood years for noonday prayer at their residence. My mother did not want her children to go through life's trials without being saved, and her prayers for many have come to full fruition.

The women of God who met at those prayer meetings were Spirit-filled ladies. These women sowed good teachings, and we met positive Christian children at ministry conventions, which enhanced the good values that my mother was teaching. My mentors showed me about living a quality, saved life and making God my top priority. I never forgot the folks who were good to our family when we were children.

Our church home in Warren was a place where the Spirit of God dwelled. We welcomed the power of the Holy Ghost, and sometimes healings took place. At one service, Mother Griffin collapsed. She had no pulse, but the saints prayed, and life came back into her body.

We had teenage ministers and missionaries back in the day. Young folk came in off the street and got sanctified. This was a church where we loved one another in peace and unity. When a problem occurred, we prayed at the altar, and issues were resolved.

During those days, if one church hosted a revival, people from other churches attended. The height of my ambition was to live a saved life. We had been adopted into the royal family of God and had become children of the kingdom. We carried our Bibles to school and discussed in the hallways the revivals that were being conducted.

All of this occurred during the time after I got saved, before I graduated in my senior year. I was not the type of girl who slept around, but I still had to experience being born again. I thank God that my mom had taught me to have integrity, to have fervent prayer at home, and to treat people with respect and agape love. She trusted the Lord and, to the best of her ability, taught me a reverential fear of God, never allowing gossip in her presence. When it came to holiness, she was sincere about the Lord, regardless of what anyone said or did.

I remember the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). We had older women in the church who sowed good seed and mentored us in shaping our lives. Years ago, saints would tell young women to make something out of their lives, saying, "Hold yourself up. That means to wait until marriage before you have sex." They knew that a girl who didn't wait could end up pregnant. Romans 12:1–2 (KJV) tells us how to live holy lives. Without this holy influence, many young ladies have fallen into traps and pitfalls today.

All the Mothers of Zion were mentors from Little Tabernacle Church of God in Christ and in Warren. They included Mother E. Cade, Mother Douglas Bennett, Mother P. Shaw, Mother R. Thomas, Mother Blackwell, Mother M. Patterson, Mother E. Johnson, and Mother Weatherspoon, as well as evangelist mothers from Akron and Mansfield, Ohio, and...