You may remember that back in January, I participated in Five Minute Friday’s writing prompt of the week. I’ve been wanting to do it again since then, but due to other priorities, it kept being bumped down the to-do list over and over. When it came up on my list today, I happened to have time, so here we are! (I realize this prompt is actually from a few weeks ago, but regardless, I found it inspiring.)
I’m hoping this won’t be the last mention of Jennie Hussey on this blog . . . I’ve got some ideas, but I don’t want to make promises I can’t follow through on. So . . . watch this space if you are interested, and if not, no big deal!
Follow.
There are many images that pop into my head with the word follow.
I remember, as a youngster, running all over our living room and around the trampoline at church, playing Follow the Leader, each child copying what the first person did. Jump over this spot, balance for a moment there, and take giant leaps there. I always wanted to be the leader, and struggled to give the place to others. I’m afraid I was one of those annoying, pushy friends back then.
I’ve spent nearly all of this past week working on collecting, formatting, and preparing hymns to put into a small new hymnbook for our church. We have one main hymnbook already, but some hymns aren’t included that people have wanted to sing over the years. I’ve had the privilege of working with a few others in our church group to get a collection together, doing a full revamp and upgrade on a collection that we have been using for years now. It’s been a blessing—not just to have work like this to do (which, it turns out, I love doing), but also to have the words of Christian saints from many ages flowing over me as I work on preparing their songs to be used in our small group.
One of those songs, King of My Life, has especially stuck out to me this week. The absolute devotion and love Jennie Hussey had for her Lord and expressed in the song is beautiful. She truly followed the Lord, right up until the end, when she died in 1958 at age 84, unmarried, in a care home where she had lived for years because of her crippling arthritis.
I’ve spent some time researching her story these past few days, and it’s been truly inspiring.
Follow. Sacrifice, love, determination, obedience. It’s hard at times, but oh, the beauty the Lord can bring out of our commitment to follow Him!
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