Book Description

"Soul-inspiring" -The Gospel Trumpet "One of the workers in the Chicago Home began to go blind in one of her eyes. The sight kept failing until it was entirely lost. We had prayer, claimed the healing on the authority of God's Word, and did not doubt, although the sight was not restored immediately. For two months she could tell but very little difference in the condition of her eye; but during this time, she held steadily on to God's promise and did not doubt him. At last God saw fit to give her the desire of her heart. Her faith was realized and her sight was restored." -Mary Cole A narrative of the life and work of a woman abundantly used by God. Sister Mary Cole, of whose life this book is a brief, authentic sketch, had a natural inheritance that seemed calculated to shut her forever out of a place in the history of the world or of the church. Born with a body that from her earliest childhood was racked with pain, deprived by ill health of education, she seemed naturally unfitted to fill any place in the world and doomed to be only a burden to herself and her friends. How God took her, healed her, and fitted her for his service, and how he used her as an instrument for his glory, is the story of her life. The publication of the story of her life was so remote from her thoughts that it was only by the solicitation of some one who had been greatly helped by her faith and experience and the workings of God through her, and who was unwilling that her trials and triumphs should be lost as a part of the history of the church, that she was prevailed upon to write this brief narrative of her life and work. The story of her life would not, indeed, be worth telling were it stripped of the manifestations of God's power. As you read this simple story, you will see clearly that, as Sister Cole has herself expressed so many times, what she is she is by God's grace, and that all she has accomplished she has accomplished through God's power. If you will take at their value the oft-repeated expressions, "God told me," "God spoke to me," "God made me to understand," realizing that these words tell us something that actually happened, you will get some idea of how marvelously God can use even the weakest members of the human race. CONTENTS I. Birth and Ancestry II. Early Afflictions III. Incidents of Childhood IV. Events During the War V. Conversion and Sanctification VI. Events of Early Christian Life VII. My Call to the Ministry VIII. Seven Years of Preparation IX. Healed by Divine Power X. Entering the Gospel Field XI. Laboring in a New Field XII. Out of Sectarian Confusion XIII. The Evening Light XIV. Various Experiences in Gospel Work XV. Various Experiences--Continued XVI. God's Care Over Me XVII. My California Trip XVIII. Visiting Relatives in the East XIX. Mission Work in Chicago XX. A Battle With Smallpox XXI. Camp-Meetings in Various States XXII. Caring for My Aged Mother XXIII. Exhortation to Workers and Ministers POEMS Birthday Lines in Memory of February 5, 1822 The Refiner's Fire