Sue and Eddie Walden
My parents were very good at life, making ends meet, offering us many opportunities to be involved, and taking care of us. They took us to church sporadically, probably because they were raised in church and knew they were supposed to. We always said a prayer before we ate and supper was always done as a family. They were very good people. My dad always said I will get involved in church when I retire, he worked 7 days a week 12 hours or more a day most of the time. Sunday was mom’s day to rest. She took great care of us, being involved in every aspect of our lives; sports, scouts, at school, and with our friends. Saturday we cleaned and Sunday we rested. Sometimes we added church to Sundays. All that being said when I started grown close to Jesus my desire for my parents to have Jesus in the way I was experiencing grew as well. My first small group at Pleasant Hill was a Discipleship group at Alex and Willa Kay Godwin’s house. My earnest prayer request was for my parents to be saved.
Sue- Mom and dad had a car wreck around 2010. Mom ended up staying in the Med in Memphis for several weeks all of which she spent in unit. Her recovery was complicate by asthma and COPD. She had a hard time getting her oxygen level to stay up and getting stable enough to come home, in fact they discharged her to home straight from the unit because she never met criteria to transfer out to the floor. During her stay she needed to wear a BIPAP machine and have very painful blood work. She always thought she was suffocating and she HATED needles. Her hope was going and she was losing the will to live. During one of the visitation times in the unit we were talking to her and I told her to focus on Jesus in her heart. Let Him help when your are scared. Tears rolled down her face and she said I don’t have Him. I asked her if she would like Jesus in her heart and she said YES!!! We prayed for Jesus to forgive her and be her savior…..From that moment she changed. Her anxiety level changed, in those days Jesus was all she had but boy did she grab a hold with both hands! A year or so after that one of mom’s friends was visiting her at home and asked her if she was afraid or sad about her health. Mom told her when I can’t breathe or get scared I just call on Jesus and I can feel His arms around me.
Eddie- My dad always said he had “an understanding with God”. That always bothered me but his mind was set in that and he was not open for discussion. He went on the Emmaus Walk and came back a new person. He was open to talk about God and lean on him, he prayed for unsaved family members, he desired to be with the Body of Christ at Pleasant Hill, he sang the songs during 11 services not just stood there, and he talked about God with me.
