For some people life has more turns, twists, surprises and difficulties than a soap opera drama.  One such dear lady attends our main church. Abandoned by her husband years and years ago, she faithfully raised her daughters until all were grown and married…and then tragedy struck as the husband of the youngest died leaving his young wife and daughter with no means of support.  Aida never hesitated to take on the responsibility, sharing with them her small quarters and meager income.

With little education and no skills it was difficult to find a way to provide even the bare necessities of life but she found a way.  In time she had seven cows, not a square foot upon which they could graze, but seven cows. Every morning she arose long before daylight, milked them and then took them out to graze alongside the road or in a vacant lot, or wherever she could find enough grass to sustain them. Then leaving the cows alone, she went door to door selling the morning’s milk.  The procedure was reversed for the evening.  Her tithe was usually a few coins or an occasional bill.  One week it even made it to twelve dollars!

Then the thieves stole one of her cows, but the subsequent blessing seemed to outweigh the loss.  An engineer had purchased an unused piece of land for development, and being lush with tall grass, he offered its use to Aida for grazing her cows!  What a blessing…until a couple of men saw her cows eating that lush grass and decided to take possession for their horses!  When Aida refused to remove her cows, they kicked the fire out of her…but they lost the war and her cows stayed. Then, while crossing the damp log that spanned a gorge, she slipped and fell, dislocating her shoulder and bruising a lot of ribs.

Last week she asked one of the men to help her concerning her offering.  In midst of both difficulty and poverty she had made a promise to the Lord…and now was the time to fulfill that commitment.  But how does one fit a yearling calf into such a tiny envelope?

Cliff McGhee, Ecuador