The other day I was reading the chapter titled, "The Power of Purpose" from Beautiful Girlhood with Lydia. Included in the chapter was this story that has been bouncing around in my thoughts since we read it.
"The power of purpose is the power of love. No man can cleave to any purpose with all his heart unless he loves the cause for which he strives. He must so love that cause that to give it up would be like giving up his very life. I once read of a woman who lived on a lonely ranch in a foreign land. Her husband had to go away for a week or more, leaving her alone for that time with their little children. He had not been gone long, when she was bitten by a poisonous snake. She knew that in a matter of hours she would die. She remembered her children, and that if they were to be kept safe she must in the time left her draw enough water and bake enough bread to supply them until their father returned, or he might find all his family dead. So she worked and prayed that day, sick, fainting, almost unconscious; but love set her purose strong, and she struggled on. Night came, and her time was nearly gone. She put her babes to bed, and wandered out of sight of the cabin to die, but with a determination to live as long as possible for her children's sake. In the morning she was miraculously still alive, still walking, and her system beginning to clear of the poison. She lived to tell the story, a monument to the power of a loving pupose."
I pray that I can start every day with such a purpose and serve my family as though I really mean it!
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)"
Thank-you for sharing such an inspiring story.
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