"What would you have done, Emma?"
"I think I'd have chosen the inheritance."
My ten-year-old granddaughter and I were discussing an event from the biography of Rachel Saint:
Mrs. Parmalee, a childless millionaire, asked seventeen-year-old Rachel Saint if she'd become her traveling companion, touring the cities of Europe, dining and shopping with the rich and famous. If Rachel agreed, Mrs. Parmalee would make Rachel heir to her millions.
But Rachel felt God had called her to mission work in the jungles of South America, so she declined this offer.
I appreciated my granddaughter's honesty about what she'd probably do, and I admitted that when I was her age, I'd probably have taken Mrs. Parmalee's offer too. But I added that we'd have chosen less, not more.
Rachel Saint ministered to the tribe who killed her brother and lived in difficult conditions her entire life, but she inherited far greater treasure than Mrs. Parmalee had to offer (Matthew 6:19-20).
What would you have chosen if you were in Rachel Saint's shoes?
To read about other members of Rachel Saint's family:
▻Rachel's nephew Steve Saint—Divine Appointment in Timbuktu, A Saint's Life, and Endured or Cured.
▻Steve's wife Ginny—When Hardship is a Privilege.
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Oh, I probably would have taken Mrs. Parmalee's offer, too. Sadly. Ms. Saint, however, was much wiser and godlier than I was at that age.
ReplyDeleteAt 17 I was not especially wise.
ReplyDelete