"I am content to fill a little space if god be glorified." How many people do you know that would gladly "fill a little space"? The beautifully ironic thing about Susanna Wesley was that while she so desired in her humility to simply glorify the Lord, she did not fill a small space. In reality, coinciding with her teachings, she was able to help change the history of the church. Her son John Wesley was the one to found the Free Methodist Church, and changing church history all together. Now get this, Susanna was married at 19 to Samuel Wesley. All together they had 19 children. Yep, you heard right 19. This alone is a feat that I admire. Through time Susana had to endure hardships as 9 of her children died as infants, one even being smothered by her maid accidentally. On top of losing multiple children she also, in dedication, homeschooled each reaming child until they were adults. While she was doing all of this her husband was jailed twice, and even aban...
I first read about Corrie Ten Boom in the book 7 Women by Erik Metaxis. This was just a chapter description of her life but I was struck with the impact that this woman had. Her tenacity began when she was 22 and after some trial in her life she decided to become a watchmaker, making her the first woman watchmaker in holland. It was in her homeland of the Netherlands that the Nazis invaded in 1940. In their passion to save people the Ten Booms began housing Jews that were being hunted by the Gestapo. They built a hidden small room with brick and a built in bookshelf in order to hide at least six people at a time. The disguise of the watch shop quickly made this a safe house for many Jewish people. It is said that the Ten Booms saved about 800s Jews during the Nazi occupation. It was only one a fellow Dutch neighbor gave away the operation that they were then captured and taken to a concentration camp. She lost her father shortly after and her sister only a month before the camp was freed. On top of this when she met a Nazi soldier later in her life that was positioned at her camp she shook his hand and openly forgave him. In her bravery and obedience this woman who began as a watchmaker, turned into a hero of the 20th century. It was out of her conviction of the love God has for her and his people that she was compelled to show the same sacrificial love. If she can do this out her own obedience, what would our own obedience look like when it comes to loving our neighbor as ourself?
I wanted to thank you for your blog. You've introduced me to a few women I really should have known! I really have to admire Ten Boom's willingness to put others before herself. When I Googled her name, my result set included many inspirational quotes. I decided I needed to learn more about Ten Boom, especially since I'm not always the first one to offer forgiveness.
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