This is a real treat. Though authors and readers share the stories of the strong women in their lives on this blog, I haven’t had the opportunity to get the male point of view till today.

Brandt Dodson shares the story of his grandmother and of the heroine in his latest book, Daniel’s Den.

Here’s Brandt:

“At the height of the great depression, my maternal grandmother found herself and her four small children in the worst of all possible situations. They were homeless.
After her husband abandoned her – a scenario that was all too common during the great depression – she took to the streets, looking for any work she could find. Tasks such as cooking, cleaning, or doing the laundry often meant the difference between sleeping under a bridge or in a bed. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough work and there many days over the next several months when her family was as cold as it was hungry.
When the authorities heard of this they moved to take the children away. Until she could provide for them, they reasoned, her children would be wards of the state.
With no resources, no connections, and no means with which to fight, she began to pray.
The original language of the New Testament uses the same word for spirit as it does for wind. As a Christian, my grandmother knew that while she was down, she was not out. She had the Holy Spirit walking beside her. She had the wind in her sails.
While meeting with the judge and social workers in an attempt to secure her children, a young minister was passing by and entered the room to listen. Hearing her story, he began to feel the tug in his heart that he recognized as the leading of God. He asked if he could approach the bench. When the judge agreed, the young minister made a startling offer. As startling to him as to the woman he was about to help.
He told the judge he would take the woman and her four children into his home (without consulting his wife) and would provide for them until my grandmother could find work. He offered to enroll the children in school, clothe them and feed them, and would allow the courts to examine the situation as often as the judge deemed necessary. His offer so impressed the court, that her children were released that day.
My grandmother fought to keep her family alive – then together. Her strength came not from her own power, but from the God she served. It was He, after all, who sent a young minister into the courtroom that day; a Christian who chose to live his witness rather than just proclaim it.
All of us have women in our lives who were strong enough to show us the way. Sometimes it was through strength of personality. Sometimes it was through strength of faith. But in every case, we are their beneficiary. And we are the better for it.“

Brandt, thanks so much for sharing. Your grandmother knew where her strength came from, from the Lord. Sadly, my mother, another single mother, didn’t walk, trusting that the Lord would be there for her till later in life. Once after she had come to the Lord, she said to me, “If only I had walked with the Lord, depending on Him every day, how different my life would have been.”

I pray that all of you whether fathers or mothers, sons or daughters will take that sad sentence to heart.