Saturday, February 14, 1998
Moments of Grace
(Editor's Note: Ann Marie Graham is a 13-year-old Abilenian
who is a member of the Abilene Writer's Guild and author of a
children's book. She will be a featured speaker at the Rocky Mountain
Book Festival in Denver in April. Ann Marie recently attended
the Women's Enrichment Day sponsored by the Abilene Association
of Congregations and was inspired to write the following Moments
of Grace.)
She was the way my mind pictured what a Christian lady is like.
I was struck by her humbleness and how much inner beauty, as well
as outward beauty, she had. The way she spoke, she was like a
dear friend I had known all my life.
As the minutes rolled by at the Women's Enrichment Day, I found
myself both laughing and crying at the stories Shirley Cothran
Barret, former Miss America, told of her life.
As I listened, I wouldn't have guessed that she was a terribly
shy girl growing up. And she didn't have any store-bought clothes
until she was in high school -- her mother made her clothes.
In a lighter moment, she mentioned the secret for keeping the
Miss America crown on -- duct tape on the bottom. She also talked
about the trials in her life that helped her grow.
Caring for her dying mother was almost too much to bear until
she realized one day the blessing that she had become closer to
her mother than ever before.
This Miss America shared the secret of her success in life,
"putting God first." All through the better and the
worse of her life, faith in God was her source of strength.
It was good to hear this Christian lady. In her warm and humble
way, she inspired us to be what God made us to be, that we might
all wear a crown some day (1 Corinthians 9:25).
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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