A Mother's determination

A pastor looked over the assembled members for his Thursday afternoon confirmation class. Only one teenager was there for the class that should have been filled with fifteen youths. Only one young girl was there to benefit from the pastor's knowledge and preparation. Only she had prepared her assignment from the week before. The lone member of the class was a thirteen-year-old girl. Her mother had left her job as a waitress in order to pick her daughter up at school and have her at the class on time.

Her mother had told the pastor at the beginning of the series of confirmation classes, "I did not have the benefit of a church when I was growing up. I am determined that things will go better for my daughter than they went for me."

Her mother was definitely determined. Determination was her middle name. She would move any mountain in order to ensure that her daughter participated in all church activities.

At first the pastor considered canceling the class. After all, only one student was present. But the determination and dedication of the mother and her daughter moved him. He went ahead with the class. After all, the mother's dedication ought to be rewarded with at least this much response from the church.

Ten years later, when the pastor returned to that church, a beautiful young woman came up and introduced herself to him. She was a new teacher, specializing in children with learning disabilities. She was also an officer in the church, a leader of the young adults' group. Then the pastor remembered: She was the lone little girl in the confirmation class that Thursday afternoon ten years ago. She was the fruit of her mother's determination that her daughter would receive a blessing from the church.