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An
Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at
Creekwood |
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The Gift Oseola
McCarty spent most of her life washing and ironing
clothes for the well-to-do
Where had she obtained that kind of money? She had lived frugally, saved carefully, and invested wisely. In the beginning, she said, she charged $1.50 to $2 a bundle, but, with inflation, the price rose. "When I started making $10 a bundle -- I don't remember when ... sometime after the war -- I commenced to save money," she recalled. "I put it in savings. I never would take any of it out. I just put it in. It just accumulated." Amazingly, she had saved the $150,000 -- representing about 60 percent of her life's savings -- washing and ironing other people's clothes for 75 years. At the age of 87, Miss McCarty decided that there was something better to do with her savings than spend it on herself. “I thought it best to give it to some child to get an education,” she said. "People in Hattiesburg call her donation ‘the GIFT’," Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times correspondent Rick Bragg wrote after interviewing McCarty in August of 1995. Miss McCarty received scores of awards and other honors recognizing her unselfish spirit including the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation's second highest civilian award, presented to her by President Bill Clinton during a special White House Ceremony. She also won the United Nation's coveted Avicenna Medal for educational commitment. She
was embarrassed by all the attention, but when asked
by reporters why she had done what she had done, she
borrowed some familiar words: “It’s
more blessed to give than to receive – I’ve tried
it.” * Miss McCarty was quoting Acts 20:35 – “And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Miss McCarty’s generosity reflects not only the WORDS of Jesus, but also His LIFE and His DEATH. Jesus “gave Himself for our sins” (Galatians 1:4) so that we might have forgiveness and the hope of an eternal inheritance in Heaven (1 Peter 1:3-5). These blessings are included in “The Gift” of salvation that He will give to those who respond to Him in loving obedience. To receive His Gift, one must believe in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Because of the indescribable generosity (grace) of God, THE GIFT is available to you! Won’t
YOU accept it on His
terms? -- David A. Sargent, Minister Church
of Christ at Creekwood * Information gleaned from he University of Southern Mississippi Website: http://www.usm.edu/pr/OOLAFUN.HTM To Subscribe to "Living Water" send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net Follow this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org
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