God’s Plan in Retrospect
By Eva Low
(Written in August 2003)
I became a Christian at about fourteen years of age, thanks to Miss Rachel Swift’s dedicated love to Jesus. It was her persistence in asking me to come and be in her Sunday School class that melted my Confucius-believing father’s negative response to her repeated almost weekly invitations. Two years later I accepted Jesus as my savior but later when our family moved to Forrest City, Arkansas from Marvell, I became a Baptist by immersion, since there was no Presbyterian church in that small town and a small Baptist church was in the next block that I learned that baptism by immersion was Jesus ‘ own example.
I graduated from high school in Forrest City in 1944. World War II was raging in Europe and in the Pacific, and one of my brothers was drafted for military service. Going on to college was out of the question, both from a financial standpoint and a need to fill my brother’s absence during the war. I took a correspondence course from the University of Texas in English, hoping it would lead to college later, but in 1946, my ‘Knight in Shining Armor’ came along, and the grandiose college dream was traded for marriage to Gow Low from Miami, Florida! He was not yet a Christian, but he open to God and a year later he was baptized when a new Christian neighbor invited us to Flagler Street Baptist Church, which eventually became our mother church.
Our deep faith in God as a young couple was tested unexpectedly and very severely soon after our marriage. We both love children and hoped that God would bless our marriage with a large family. When our first baby daughter was born, she was a healthy looking normal baby, enjoying her food and growing naturally. But by the time she was eight months old, she had had her first blood transfusion because the pediatrician said she was anemic. At one year of age, she had had two transfusions and was diagnosed with leukemia, which in the 1940’s then, was terminal. We were told she had only four months to live. Gow and I were young, inexperienced and totally devastated. Yet with faith in God, and support from our pastor, church friends and our families, we learned to submit our will to His will, and to trust that “God’s way is the best way, though we may not see---.”
“God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.” A few years later our first son was born. He weighed only four pounds and ten ounces, and later on, our younger daughter weighed in at one ounce less than three pounds! Yet they were and still are, two strong, healthy persons, whereas our oldest and youngest were full term babies weighing over six pounds each! The youngest had the same anemia as the eldest, and the prognosis of doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, that neither one would live beyond their twentieth year subsequently and sadly came true. The problem was a genetic trait that had a defect in the red cells which caused the anemia. Gow and I came to painfully realize that, as parents, we were only stewards or managers of our children. They were not really ours, and God could call them home whenever He deemed it time. We truly enjoyed them while they were in our care, but when the time came to give them up, we could only “let go and let God.” We thank Him that only His grace was sufficient as He has promised.
To make a long story short, through the years God not only has been with us and led us through many difficult decisions and stressful times of heartbreak, but He has always brought us to something better than what we had ever planned in family matters or business. For instance, we were unaware that credit to customers could get out of hand unless an established limit is enforced. Without alcoholic beverages in a grocery business, success is all but impossible, especially in the particular neighborhood where our business was located. These and other lessons we learned the hard way, through painful experiences, and the failure of three small businesses piled up a huge debt which at the time we had no inkling how to ever repay.
Meantime, God was opening a way for us. Gow’s father suggested that we move out into the county, away from the downtown high rental area, and with his encouragement and initial financial help, we were able to borrow from the same people who trusted us, not one, but three accumulative times just on our word!. Each business still was without the sale of alcoholic beverages, but with God’s help, in ten years we were debt free. All thanks, praise, glory and honor to our faithful loving God who always blesses those who are faithful to Him. Not only were we blessed, but our implicit faith also helped a young Christian stand firm in his newly found faith. He, too, was in the same business but he had always felt that religion and business do not mix. Many years later he testified that standing firm in our convictions helped convince him that God’s way is truly most meaningful and worthwhile.
As time hastens us on our earthly sojourn, in retrospect we can see God’s hand in every phase of our lives. He has been our refuge and strength, our wisdom and hope, through the years. He has honored us by having a part in helping establish the first Chinese Baptist Church in South Florida, and now in our sunset years he has privileged us to have one more challenge: to rally our community to see the completion of a Chinese Cultural and Arts Center. It will be a community center in which meetings will be held, teaching and learning programs will be offered that will reinforce our cultural and moral values, with social and cultural events that will bring our people and the community together in fellowship and friendship, and eventually bring about much good will and more understanding from generation to generation. The Cultural Center is now about 80% completed, but as Fund-Raising chairman, Gow has been working hard and patiently to solicit community support to finish the exterior painting, landscaping, and furnish the interior with furniture, new or old. All donations or volunteer work will be gratefully appreciated and the need is urgent.
As I write these few words from a deeply thankful heart, we see our older members becoming fewer and fewer. We appreciate the many young adults actively and faithfully serving and carrying on God’s kingdom work as young Joshua once did when Moses grew older. We cherish the huge group of exuberant children eagerly singing in the choir. They are being trained as our future church and civic leaders of tomorrow. (The church is our spiritual response to God and the cultural center is our civic concern for our community welfare.) Gow and I can only humbly return thanks for His wonderful plan and joyfully sing hallelujah to our Father God, through Jesus Christ our living Savior and Lord!! He assures us that “ Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit” (Zech.4:6) May His Will be done and His blessings of LOVE, PEACE AND JOY BE EVER WITHIN YOUR HEARTS, regardless of any and all outward circumstances! AMEN!!