Thankful for Patty’s Faith

Patty’s Faith

I am very thankful for Patty’s faith. Her faith and convictions helped mold the man I am married to today. No she wasn’t perfect, no she was not a theologan, but she was a child of God and her life reflected that!

During my Remembering Patty series, I have alluded to Patty’s childhood being troubled. That would be putting it mildly, and I won’t be blogging about the horrors that existed there. Sorry to all the inquiring minds, but it’s just not my story to tell. That early era is just a piece of a long and amazing life for Patty. There is no reason to dwell on such negatives.

Her childhood does play a vital role in her story of salvation. Patty wasn’t raised in a home where ‘church’ happened. Before Joan left her husband, they lived out in the boonies, away from all society except school. When Joan moved her crew into the white house on the edge of what would eventually be my home town, she had no interest in church. While Patty didn’t have her mother’s bitterness against ‘those people’ in churches, she remained uninterested into her adulthood. For Patty, the thought of going to church was as foreign a thing as Americans with polo. We know it exists, we may even know a little bit about the sport, but we think it is just a game that the British play.

Patty found her saving faith in Germany! She was a young military wife, overseas for the first time, and her husband was in the field a lot! She was lonely and she needed some female support to get her through. Boy do I understand that sensation! Patty became friends with a gal who was faithful to her commission of Acts 1 and shared her faith with Patty. This gal did it right, too. She was loving, compassionate, careful with Patty’s ignorance of Biblical matters. She used simple speech and simple terms, but she fully explained the sinfulness we all inherit and what the cross means to believers. Patty repented of her sins and asked Jesus to be her Savior. But Patty didn’t stop there.

Patty was sweethearted before, but after becoming a Christian, she was different. My husband remembers the mother he had before she prayed to Christ, and after. It was a remarkably different woman. Even as a young boy he can remember his mother having them starting to pray before dinner and attending chapel services on post. He remembers a different approach to brotherly conflict and her parenting style. Christ made a notable difference in her life and I am so thankful that her faith was evident in her life!

~ I am thankful that God called Patty to be His own precious child

~ I am thankful that this dear believer was bold in sharing her faith with Patty

~ I am thankful that Patty allowed her faith to influence her life

~ I am thankful for the ways that Patty encouraged her children in the Lord

~ I am extremely thankful that she was able to live to see my husband enter seminary and head towards full-time ministry

~ I am thankful for her faithfulness to the fruits of the Spirit

Patty was a huge blessing in my life and much of that blessing sprang forth from her simple faith in Christ.

This post is part of a blogging series “Remembering Patty“

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