Elvira--Final Blog Chapter of "The Help"
One of my most vivid childhood memories of growing up in Mississippi in the 60s is sitting in church on a Sunday morning waiting for the service to begin. All of a sudden there was a ruckus just to my left. As I looked over to see what was going on I found there was a group of men from the church on one side of the swinging door pushing against it. As the door swung back and forth it became evident that there was a family of Blacks on the other side of the door trying to enter the sanctuary.
In my little pre-teen mind I questioned, “Why won’t the men let the people come to church? This is God’s house and everyone should be allowed to come in and worship.” Don’t you find it interesting that a young girl could have had more wisdom than the grown men who were supposedly the leaders of the church?
Those men were not living according to the teachings of Christ such as love, kindness, compassion, just as many people today don’t either. They choose to make up their own rules and guidelines for living the way that they want.
In contrast, I want to share another of my family stories. When my mother was growing up in Aberdeen, MS her family had a black lady working for them named Elvira. She was a very insecure woman and was constantly telling my grandmother that she felt worthless, like a “nobody.” My grandmother knew that it was not true and told her about Jesus and how she was worth something because He had created her and He loved her. That message of salvation changed Elvira’s life. She became a devout Christian and loved the Lord the rest of her days.
Elvira remained close to our family until she died. There was not a visit to my grandmother’s house that we didn’t go by and see Elvira and see the picture of Jesus on her wall.
So, not everyone tried to keep people out of church, some actually made sure that their “help” would spend eternity with them and their Lord.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.
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