Ace Collins - Stories Behind Women of Extraordinary Faith

Other Books by Ace Collins

Turn Your Radio On: The Stories behind Gospel Musics All-Time Greatest Songs

The Cathedrals: The Story of Americas Best-Loved Gospel Quartet

Stories behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas

Stories behind the Hymns That Inspire America

Stories behind the Great Traditions of Christmas

I Saw Him in Your Eyes: Everyday People Making Extraordinary Impact

More Stories behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas

Stories behind the Traditions and Songs of Easter

ZONDERVAN

STORIES BEHIND WOMEN of EXTRAORDINARY FAITH
Copyright 2008 by Andrew Collins

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ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN:0-310-86420-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Collins, Ace.
Stories behind women of extraordinary faith / Ace Collins.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-26316-6
1. Christian women--Biography. I. Title.
BR1713.C65 2008
270.092'2--dc22
[B]

2007047655

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08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To John and Kathy Hillman,
who have used their faith to encourage others
in every facet of their lives

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

Matthew 25:35 40

CONTENTS

Introduction: Nancys Faith for Living
Each Moment to Its Fullest

19. Mary Dunham Faulkner:
Faith to Follow an Unmarked Road

Nancys Faith for Living
Each Moment to Its Fullest

Twenty years is a long time. My oldest son was not even in school two decades ago, and now he is a college graduate. My youngest had not been born yet, but enough time has passed that he is in college now. How my life has changed during this passing of time.

Twenty years ago I lost a good friend. At the time she died, she was thirty-three. Thirty-three years is not much time to make a mark on this earth, but she did. And she did it without writing books, starring in movies, or even being elected to office. She made that mark without anyone really knowing her name. Yet the way she lived, that special spirit that could easily be seen in her vitality, joy, enthusiasm, and faith, has inspired me each day since she passed on. And I am not alone. A lot of people are better for having known her, and some might be alive just because of the incredible example she left in her wake.

So I think there is no better place to begin a book on women who possess extraordinary faith than with a personal story of one incredible woman who impacted my life. If you will read this introduction, I think you will find that Nancy will make a huge impact on you as well.

I had a big crush on Nancy when she and I were students at Baylor University, a private Baptist college in Waco, Texas. She had spunk and style that went beyond that of most young ladies in the mid1970s. Even then I must have realized that all people are special. But Nancy was more special than most. For some indefinable reason, I knew that she was a winner. In every college trial, she proved it over and over again. She was not a person to just play a game; she always played to win. I remember the way she bit her bottom lip when she was hurt or angry. This happened when she made a bad grade on a test, struck out in a softball game, or had a fight with a boyfriend. When she bit that lip, I always knew that she would bounce back.

Fact was, Nancy was no more talented or gifted than other people I knew. She just had more guts, more spirit. In a room filled with people, she stood out. When other people sparkled, she glowed! Yet whenever you were with her, even in a large group, she always made you feel like you were the most important person there. When I graduated from Baylor in 1975, Nancy was the one person I knew who would take the world by storm. Whatever wall she faced, this five-foot-one-inch dynamo would climb it. Whatever goal she set her bright blue eyes on, she would reach. I never had a doubt.

As is so often the case when graduation takes you away to the real world, I lost track of this spunky little lady from Houston. One college homecoming, my wife and I saw Nancy for a few minutes at an alumni coffee. I remember thinking she looked thin. But the moment she turned my way, greeted me with a fire in her eyes and that huge smile, I knew that my college predictions about Nancy must have been right on track. As we talked, I discovered that she was teaching first graders. I couldnt help thinking that those six-year-olds were learning more from Nancy than just how to read. She was making them feel special, filling them with dynamic optimism, and teaching them how to be winners.

Were it not for a chance meeting with her father in the summer of 1985, I might never have made contact with Nancy again. Listening to her father, I began to understand just how high lifes walls had been for my college classmate. It was at this point that she began to teach me a profound lesson about living. In that conversation, I discovered that Nancy had spent several weeks at Houstons M.D. Anderson Hospital having a cancerous tumor and infected kidney removed. Weeks of intensive radiation therapy followed. As I listened to her father explain his daughters battle for life, a picture came into my mind of her biting that bottom lip, gritting her teeth, and facing this painful ordeal with the same determination she exhibited in college. I could see her encouraging the doctors, telling her mother not to worry, and asking her brothers if they didnt have something better to do than hang around a hospital.