When I was growing up, my parents would not allow us to have a TV or listen to secular radio. Anything that was considered “worldly” was not allowed in our home. My mother found some Aunt Theresa Story albums at the Christian book store for us to listen to on our record player. We listened to those stories over and over again until we had memorized them. My favorite story was about a Christian pioneer family that started out in the east, in a Conestoga wagon as part of a wagon train. They encounter every problem that the travel west could produce. Indian attacks, lack of food and water, conflicts, broken wheel axles, and more. At one point the families in the wagon train began to talk about retreat. They wanted to give up, turn around and go back to their old familiar life. They went to Wagon Master, the captain of the wagon train, and he listened to them. He thought for a moment and then powerfully said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God”. The families all rallied and began to pray asking the Lord to help them to persevere and continue on the journey that they started out on. Eventually, the pioneers made it to their western destination. I was fascinated with stories about the west and cowboys and could not hear that story enough. I would pick up the needle and replay the stories despite the scratches on the vinyl that made certain parts of the story repeat until I would have to nudge the needle along.
The tales I listened to were the creation of Theresa Worman, a single woman that wrote, produced and narrated stories to bring the word of God to children in language that they could understand. Aunt Theresa was herself a pioneer. She was one of the first persons to use the creative arts and the media of the day, radio, to reach out to the hearts of children. She was a single woman, graduate of Moody Bible Institute and dedicated solely to the minister the imaginations and the hearts of the little ones who grew up in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.
I hadn’t thought of these stories in years until recently I was trying to make a serious life decision and a friend spoke to me through a Bible verse right out of my very own favorite story. I was contemplating taking an amazing job, with incredible benefits . . . a job I would love. But I had already registered to attend Bible College in the fall and this job offer would not have fit into the path that I felt that God was leading me down. I was so close to taking the job. My heart was burning with all kinds of plans that could somehow be crammed into God’s plan. I asked my friend to give me some direction and he thought for a few minutes and asked if I wanted to hear the truth. I said, “Yes”. He took a pause and then spoke thoughtfully. Out came the words of the Wagon Master that I had memorized years, and years ago. They flew like an arrow into my heart, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit service in the kingdom of God”. I knew at the precise moment that if I took that job, I would be destined to stay on the same path I have been on. I was keenly aware that if I followed the Spirit’s leading; I would begin a time of transitioning to a new level of spiritual understanding and service. I also knew that this journey would not be without adversity and the story that Aunt Theresa told would become a metaphor for my travels.
At the moment I heard this verse that Jesus spoke in Luke 9:62, I knew what I had to do. I turned down the job and continued on with the wagon train to the west. Miraculous provision allowed me to travel west to my new home and into my future. While there, I determined to stay with the Wagon Master no matter what obstacles I might encounter. I am now resolute. What a spectacular God who used a woman “pioneer” from the 20th century to have such an impact on me in 2009. Her work and words, prepared my heart as a child to lead my feet away from a detrimental retreat as an adult. As I thought about her work, I realized that this is another example of how the West was won. The pioneers went west for many different reasons, but all of them wanted the opportunity to start a new life.
“The best way out of a difficulty is through it.” - Will Rodgers
The tales I listened to were the creation of Theresa Worman, a single woman that wrote, produced and narrated stories to bring the word of God to children in language that they could understand. Aunt Theresa was herself a pioneer. She was one of the first persons to use the creative arts and the media of the day, radio, to reach out to the hearts of children. She was a single woman, graduate of Moody Bible Institute and dedicated solely to the minister the imaginations and the hearts of the little ones who grew up in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.
I hadn’t thought of these stories in years until recently I was trying to make a serious life decision and a friend spoke to me through a Bible verse right out of my very own favorite story. I was contemplating taking an amazing job, with incredible benefits . . . a job I would love. But I had already registered to attend Bible College in the fall and this job offer would not have fit into the path that I felt that God was leading me down. I was so close to taking the job. My heart was burning with all kinds of plans that could somehow be crammed into God’s plan. I asked my friend to give me some direction and he thought for a few minutes and asked if I wanted to hear the truth. I said, “Yes”. He took a pause and then spoke thoughtfully. Out came the words of the Wagon Master that I had memorized years, and years ago. They flew like an arrow into my heart, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit service in the kingdom of God”. I knew at the precise moment that if I took that job, I would be destined to stay on the same path I have been on. I was keenly aware that if I followed the Spirit’s leading; I would begin a time of transitioning to a new level of spiritual understanding and service. I also knew that this journey would not be without adversity and the story that Aunt Theresa told would become a metaphor for my travels.
At the moment I heard this verse that Jesus spoke in Luke 9:62, I knew what I had to do. I turned down the job and continued on with the wagon train to the west. Miraculous provision allowed me to travel west to my new home and into my future. While there, I determined to stay with the Wagon Master no matter what obstacles I might encounter. I am now resolute. What a spectacular God who used a woman “pioneer” from the 20th century to have such an impact on me in 2009. Her work and words, prepared my heart as a child to lead my feet away from a detrimental retreat as an adult. As I thought about her work, I realized that this is another example of how the West was won. The pioneers went west for many different reasons, but all of them wanted the opportunity to start a new life.
“The best way out of a difficulty is through it.” - Will Rodgers
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