8/12/2019 1988 Issue 9 - His Grace is Sufficient for Gwen - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/2

is race is Sufficient for wen

by Polly Brown Balint

Gwen Nix is one

of

those people

who knows

who

she is,

exactly. Shere-

members where she came from

and

best

of

all,

she

says she kt1ows where she's

going.

Gwen

was born

to poor

tenant farm

ers in a postage stamp of a place called

Sweetapple, in northern Fulton Coun

ty, Georgia.

Her

formal education fell

to the wayside

in

the seventh grade to

make way

for homemade spelling bees,

dictionary memorizing, babysitting ba

by brothers and picking. cotton.

Gwen

recollects her humble begin

nings.

Born

at home, weighing three

pounds

at

birth,

she

slept

in

a shoe box

instead o a crib. She was, in fact,

brought into this world with

only

one

kidney, a deaf ear,

no

tonsils, and two

sets

of

internal female reproductive or

gans.

She

wants

to remember

that. And she

will

never forget the time she took her

tiny brother to the edge

of

a cotton

field, left

him

on a blanket, cooing and

kicking. with a

batch

of fresh biscuits

and syrup. After working a few rows

of

cotton, Gwen returned to find the infant

covered in ants

"I

don't know why we

didn't think

to

put him .

box or

something," .she says,

her eyes twinkling. "You'd think we

didn't love

him or

something "

At

14, Gwen married 17-yea.r-oldRay

Nix, "Because I was afraid

no

one

else

would

ask

me again ''

She

remembers that day she walked

into the

Georgia

Power Company build-

ing in downtown Atlanta after .

Ray

taught

her

how to deposit a token on

the streetcars.

She

was

hired

as a post

ing

clerk and

later became

a

book

keeper. It

was at

that time, 26 years

ago

that Gwen noticed a tingling sensation

Polly Brown . Balint, . a homemaker . and

sometime school teacher,

Is

the 'author

of the children's booklet series on the

Ten Commandments, . now

In produc

tion. She

h.as

a. husband .

and

a brother

who are both elders

at

Chalcedon Pres"

byterian Church.

in her left ankle. Since

it

persisted she

checked into Emory University Medical

Center in Decatur, Ga., for tests. The

ordeal was financed through

a

grant, and

it

bec me a long, drawn out process.

';After

my

tests, the doctors

said to

go home

and

forget it," explains Gwen.

Then after four years and more and more

tests the doctors told her she had mUl

tiple sclerosis (MS) and that it

may

get. worse

and.

it may

get

better."

At

that

time her left side was paralyzed

and

seven years later the

right

side

of

her

body was totally paralyzed.

I remember," recalls Gwen, "when

the doctors told

me

I couldn't walk any

more,

When I

told

my

husband, Ray,

I

started

to

cry. I was so upset that I

wouldn't be able to wear high heeled

shoes " When she lost the use of her

hands

and

legs she left the utility com

pany

after

27

years

of

service.

Then she lived

in and out of

nursing

homes

and

entertained other residents

with

tape

recorders

and

hymns and Scrip

ture

readings.

"I've never asked why these things

have happened to me, I know why. I

have

had

opportunities

to

witness

for

the

Lord in

the nursing homes.

i

recall

an

84-year-old

woman

and an

87-year

old man, both

of

whom I believe have

gone to heaven."

In

1977, a family

in

Decatur, Ga.,

heard about Gwen. The head of the

household (who wishes to remain name

less) told Gwen they wanted to adopt

her.

She moved

into a private room

of

the household which included seven

children.

"I

could

use my hands at the time,

says Gwen,

in

her

room

wrapped

in

.brightly colqred fresh wallpaper. A

table on wheels holds a television set,

and

a radio

and

books

fill

her shelves.

As Gwen lies in her

bed

she can

look

across her room to the large bulletin

board

on

the wall which -is completely

covered with about 200 snapshots of

people

who

have :visited her, correspond-

ed with her or still pray for her, from

different parts of the city

and

country. A

dresser mirror is framed in more. pic

tures of families

and

friends, young and

old. She has memorized the pictures and

daily prays for

the

saints.

The 4 ~ y e a r o l d childless widow can'

get

out

of

bed anymore

to

sit

in

he

wheelchair. It's too much

work

for the

family who takes care

of

her

and

it's too

uncomfortable for Gwen. Completely

bedridden, Gwen can move herneck and

head.

Her

expressive eyes still sparkl

as she speaks. "My throat ntay be nex

to be

paralyzed. Sometimes I

talk

and

nothing comes out.

t could be

nerves

though. It's such a strange disease, ther

is not control from the brain

to

th

feet," Gwen explains.

Just before Gwen became immobil

ized

she

became a Christian.

In 1955,

she recalls, "I was attending Colonia

Hills Baptist Church

and

I heard a

sermon

of

I John which says that Jesus

is

the propitiation for our sins. Jesus i

the atoning sacrifice for our sins artd fo

the sins

of

the whole world."

Then

Gwen became very active as a Bible con

ference hostess and Sunday Schoo

hostess. And Ray, a nonbeliever, didn

object.

I truly enjoy being arourid peopl

and that time was a

joy

in my life.

had

to leave the church in 1968 becaus

of

this illness and the

old

friends from

church still visit me "

Today

her motionless body

ds no

n u m ~ In every part of her body she ca

feel pressure

and

pain.

But

for Gwen,

i

is physical ,pain, not emotional .

o

mental. She has

to

take eight shot

every

day. "The Lord has been with m

every. moment.

I'm not upset

abou

this. I never asked Him to make me fre

of pain. My faith gets stronger, no

weaker. Without .these problems .

wouldn't know Him as I do," she ex

plains.

What

does upset Gwen is

to

se

others in despair and discouragemen

about their situations -- AND, shesays

"when the Georgia Bulldogs footbal

team loses a game ''

The

browri haire

sports fan keeps

up

with Atlant

Falcons' football and Braves baseba

playing record, too.

Page 30

The

Counsel of Chalcedon, September, 1988

8/12/2019 1988 Issue 9 - His Grace is Sufficient for Gwen - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Something else that has really bur

dened Gwen was a particular physician

who had been lreating her, one of many

she had seen over the years. The doctor

was aware of her faith and optimism

in

the face of her disease, every time

she

visited for the scraping of her bladder.

He

told her

it

was evident she knew

someone special that he did not. She

told

him

it was her Savior, Jesus

Christ

A similar situation arose six years

ago when Gwen was under another phy

sical examination. "The doctors realized

that I could see very well (with MS)

and that I had brain power to think

clearly. With this disease, I'm not sup

posed to. So they gave me an eye test

with scraping and flickering lights.

They said that behind my eyes there

is

complete deterioration and disease and

that

it

is impossible that I can see

or

have a clear mind I told them that they

are not in charge

of

my seeing but that

I have a Father in heaven who is in

charge."

Her"Father

n

heaven" provided a den

tist, a son

of

some friends, who visited

her in her own room in Decatur to give

her a root canal and new partial plates.

"It took him three visits and he brought

machines and everything

And

before he

began the work I asked him

if

we could

pray.

An

assistant he brought

on

one

visit couldn't believe i t He said, too,

that he had never had a patient pray

before he began working

on

them. And

since that time I haven't had a bit of

pain or any problems with my teeth,"

says Gwen.

When the time came to pay the doc

tor, Gwen told him her neighbor offered

to pay

her

dental expenses. Gwen says

the doctor told her, "I'm just going to

put

you

on

account, on account you

don't have any money " Gwen recalls

all

of

this with a laugh.

"I believe that long before I was born

a plan was made for my life by God and

it has all been fantastic to see His

work. Everything has fallen into place.

My hospital bed, the television, the

radio and the little refrigerator are all

gifts. The 'man

of

the house' bought

and installed my ceiling fan. My neigh

bor across the street tapes several Sun-

day sermons for me, and I can watch

them on the

VCR

she gave me.

"Everyone sends me pictures and I

get checks from friends I haven't seen in

ages. People send checks from every

where.

The

money goes to pay for my

aide who comes in seven hours a day

and

I

must pay for my medicine.

And

visitors? There are very few days

that people do not come by to see her.

And she loves to have visitors. They

are aquaintances who are old friends

who bring new friends.

"The kids here helped to feed me after

I lost the use

of

my hands. And the

'man

of

the house' comes

in

to tum

me

on

my side for the night and puts

pillows around me. He kids me and

tells me how fat I am. It is amazing

"Free Will" vs. The Bible

"Free Will" r e ~ n t e by Men says,

'and

as many as believed were ordained to

eternal life.'

The

Bible says: 'And as many as were

ordained to eternal life believed.' (Acts 13:48)

~

sar:

'For many are called, but few

c oose.

The

Bible says: 'For many are called, but

few are chosen

.

(Matt 22:14)

rrw n ffli: 'Make Y OUr decision for

Christ

e 1 le says:

All

things are delivered

unto me of

my

Father: and no man knoweth

the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth

any

man the Father, save the Son, and

he to

whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

~ t t h e w

11:

27)

'I accepted Jesus as my personal

sav10ur.

The

Bible says:

Y

have

not

chosen me,

but I have chosen you' (John 15:16). Also:

'But when it pleased GOd, who separated me

from

my

mother's womb and called me by

his grace, to reveal his Son in me.' (Paul's

testimony in Galatians 1:15-16)

that all of this has happened to me. I

was

just

a stranger and they took me

in,"

says Gwen

of

God's amazing grace.

Since this nameless family took the

spunky Southerner into their home,

they've had their trials

but

also their

rewards. Years ago the 'man of the

house' was diagnosed with a tumor.

During following examinations the

tumor was absent from his body. The

doctors could not explain it. The man's

business as a painting contractor has

prospered tremendously over the years

since Gwen has lived with them.

As for Gwen, she says she wants to

live life

to the

fullest until Jesus comes

to take

her

home. Then

she

will

put on

golden slippers and "dance all over

God's heaven."

0

fjlen say: 'God can't save you unless you

let

un.'

The Bible says: 'So then it

is

not of

him

that wil eth, nor of him that runneth, but

of

God that sheweth mercy . Therefore hath

he

mercy on

whom he

will have mercy, and

whom he will he hardeneth.' (Romans

9:16,18).

;,tenJBY

:

'God.loves you and has a wonderful

? an

for

your hfe.'

Tile Bible Says:'(For the children being

not yet born, neither having done any gOod

or

e v ~ that the purpose of God accordmg to

election mignt stand, not

of

work:shbu[of

him

that calleth:) It was said unto er,

The

elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,

Jacob have

I

loved

but

ESau have

I

hated.'

R 911-13).

'God wants everyone to be saved.

e says: 'And he said unto them,

Unto you

it

is given to know the mystery

of

the kingdom of God: but unto them that are

without, all these things are done in parables:

That

seeing they may see, and not rerceive;

and

hearing they may hear and no

understancJ: ' (Maik:4:li-12).

[ByR.Bur""'J

"Harry 'Mad Dog' McDumm, I sentence you to the first available vacancy In

the state penitentiary "

The

Counsel of Chalcedon, September, 1988 Page31