The Notebook

"You are a blessed mother," my husband whispered as he slid into the seat beside me for the second service at the church of our son's family. He had accompanied Jamie to the Chinese church where our son is a youth pastor, and they were now back to join us here. I couldn't imagine what he meant and gave him a puzzled look. I was glad the spirited song service covered his explanation when he said, "He used your notebook in his sermon."

Now I was more puzzled than ever. A couple of months ago Howard had come in from working in our detached garage carrying a box, saying, "You might be interested in this." It was papers and mementos I had stashed away when we moved here six years ago and forgotten about. Going through the memories brought back by the kids' old school papers, awards and certificates, I knew I had to keep them.

I bought six loose-leaf binders with page protectors and began to fill them for each of our children. Since Jamie was the youngest and more recently a student, his binder became pretty plump. On impulse, I grabbed his notebook before our trip to see him and had given it to him the previous day when we arrived. I had no idea he had taken it to church.

Later, Howard told me our son had presented a sermon on steadfastness to the youth. He said Jamie had begun by showing some of his elementary school drawings and saying, "My mother saved everything," then progressing toward the back of the book where I had included his scholarship acceptance letter.

"My #2 lead pencil had managed to fill in enough of the circles on the PSAT (Pre-SAT) test I took as a junior in high school to qualify me to apply for the National Merit Scholarship," he told the kids. (How well I remember making him fill out the application and collecting all the necessary recommendations!)

We were elated when he got word that he had attained the first level in the award process and became a National Merit Candidate. More work was necessary with more papers to fill out, then he was notified he had become a finalist. We couldn't believe it when he was actually a winner and declared a National Merit Scholar! With this award came an offer of a free-ride, four-year scholarship at The University of Oklahoma.

"I had let the deadline to accept the scholarship go by, and my Mom called OU to see if it was too late. Thankfully, I still got in," Jamie had told the young people. ("He gave you all the credit," Howard said teasingly, "He didn't even mention me!")

"I found out you had to maintain a 3.5 GPA to keep the scholarship," Jamie said, "but I was so caught up in college life and Chi Alpha, I got a "D" in a course and had to go to summer school. I knew I had to get serious, and Praise God, I got A's in summer school, bringing my average back up!"

Howard said the point of his sermon to his young congregation was to not give up on their hopes for the future, that God would make a way if they remained steadfast in working to achieve their dreams. "My parents did not have a lot of money. On a minister's income, they couldn't have afforded my education, which included living and studying in France for a year," he concluded. "I became very sick in France, and homesick, too, and I was tempted to go home. But by the grace of God, I stuck it out." He ended by encouraging them to put their hope in God. I know He is the One who brought about our miracle!