What Miracles God Hath Wrought, Resurrection

My maternal grandmother was a full-time worshipper. But she was also a full-time praiser. When I tell you that she would squeal and dance everywhere, I do mean everywhere; grocery store, city bus, parking lots, amusement parks... Nothing was off-limits. All she had to do was start thinking about how good God was, or start humming a church song and after a chorus or two she'd delve into an old fashioned, pentecostal "fit"! I was nine years old when she died but I clearly remember helping my mom pick up her purse and its scattered belongings in various public places. (In her "spin dance" her purse would fling off her arm!)

Nellie Mae Butler had the grace to live in the era pre-birth control and she birthed fourteen children! No twins, just one baby after the other. (She raised 15 children because she took in her deceased sister's son.) All of her children knew the "get mom's purse" drill when she started dancing. They also had a system for guiding her out of the public eye if they could! They'd just surround her and start walking, she had no choice but to dance her way into the house if she was in the yard, or to the car if she was in the parking lot! One of the time I remember picking up her purse and its insides from the parking lot was right after she had her blood pressure checked. The nurse commented on how good it was for a woman her age. That was all it took! Nellie started telling her about how her health was attributed to God. How God had protected her so many times! How God had healed her and given her grace to face tragedy. She was telling my mother about the conversation when the joy of her God overwhelmed her and off she went!

However, tragedy is not held at bay merely because people are happy, thankful, or good people. One day Nellie was riding in a car along with some other people. There was no air conditioning in the car so the windows were rolled down. This was in the late 40's or early 50's so car seats for babies and children were unheard of. Nellie's newest child, Earl, was being held in the backseat. As they were crossing an intersection a person ran a stop sign and hit them square in the side, causing Baby Earl to fly out of the opened window and smash into the curb. It was a terrible wreck. Earl died on impact.

Nellie ran to the curb and picked up her baby. People gathered around. Emergency vehicles began to arrive. A police officer had confirmed that all hope was gone and they left the grieving mother her last few minutes to hold her baby. With tears streaming down her face Nellie told her God, "You've given me 12 healthy children. You've never taken any from me. If you want to take this one you can. I will love you anyway."

By surrendering her baby to God she was surrendering her own happiness. She was sacrificing her own emotions and maternal instincts. Nellie was not praising this time, she was worshiping.

When she uttered, "I will love you anyway." A miracle happened; That baby gasped for breath! People went running in all directions to get help when they saw all was not lost! The policeman was in shock! My grandmother was in shock!

When the doctors at the hospital saw him their diagnosis was that he would "be a vegetable all his life." (They had such tactful lingo in those days!) They said he would not walk or talk. But they didn't know Nellie's God!

My Uncle Earl is alive and well to this day! He is a husband, father, and grandfather. He was in the top of his classes in school, he was a star football player in high school. Every job he's ever had he's been a favorite of his employers and has excelled to management. He never misses an opportunity to tell people about how he was resurrected from the dead!