by Dwayne Laws<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GreatDepression-300x215.jpg\")
The nation was in the midst of the Great Depression and drought in 1930. I was fifteen. My mother and I lived alone on a small West Tennessee farm. We were attempting to scratch out a bare living from a worn-out farm with whatever abilities an ignorant boy, a widowed mother, and one mule and a plow could muster. That fall the rainfall had been so minute that the planter tracks could still be seen.<\/p>\n
After a tiring, fruitless day, Mother sat by the coal oil lamp reading of God’s love for man. With all the impatience of a teenage boy, I halted her reading from the thumb-worn Bible with this question: “Mother, you tell me God loves us. He has a funny way of showing it! We have worked our fingers to the bone for the entire growing season, yet we will harvest little from these parched fields. We have done all man can do. All this soil needs is rain, which only God can send. If God loves us, why doesn’t He make it rain?”<\/p>\n
With the patience which comes only from faith and years of trials, Mother paused, raised her head from the pages of her beloved Word of God and replied, “Son, you are making a serious mistake. You are assuming that God is interested in growing cotton and corn. He isn’t! He can do that without you and me. God is interested in growing men. I dare say that, in future years, if God grants such to you, you will look back on 1930 as a terrible year for growing corn and cotton.\u00a0But, if you learn the message God is teaching, you will recall this depression year as a great one for growing men!”<\/p>\n
Mother was right. Want teaches what abundance can never know. Without a drought and a mother who understood it, I might never have known II Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.<\/em>“<\/p>\n A Time for Growing Men by Dwayne Laws The nation was in the midst of the Great Depression and drought in 1930. I was fifteen. My mother and I lived alone on a small West Tennessee farm. We were attempting to scratch out a bare living from a worn-out farm with whatever abilities an ignorant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":15531,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15599","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50549,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/remember-a-study-of-ii-peter\/prayer-for-growth\/","url_meta":{"origin":15599,"position":0},"title":"Prayer for Growth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Prayer for Growth Text: II Peter 1:2-11 What Knowledge Brings - II Peter 1:2-4 Peter begins with a blessing to his readers. He desires that they receive grace and peace in abundance. The phrase \"grace and peace be multiplied to you\" is found only here and in I Peter 1:2\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14017,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/raising-godly-children-in-a-wicked-world\/when-to-have-that-little-talk\/","url_meta":{"origin":15599,"position":1},"title":"When to Have that Little Talk","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When to Have That Little Talk It is a mixed blessing when our children reach puberty. Our children are growing up. They are moving on to adulthood, leaving childhood behind. Soon, all we will have left are memories and a few photographs. There are many dangers that our children must\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10128,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/growing-pains\/","url_meta":{"origin":15599,"position":2},"title":"Growing Pains","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing Pains Text: Acts 6:1-7 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The church took care of its own needy by members giving of their property - Acts 4:34-35 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet, as the church continued its momentous growth, complaints arose that the distributions were not fair and even-handed. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In particular it was claimed that the widows who were\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20452,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/gethsemane\/","url_meta":{"origin":15599,"position":3},"title":"Gethsemane","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Gethsemane Reading Assignment: Matthew 26:36-56 Mark 14:32-52 Luke 22:39-53 John 18:1-12 Psalm 42:6 Did you understand what you read? Who followed Jesus and the mob? Where did they go? Who was able to enter? How did Peter get in? Who recognized Peter first? Who recognized Peter second? What did Annas\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67383,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/mark-jesus-the-active-servant\/mark-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":15599,"position":4},"title":"Mark 6","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark 6 Rejection in Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6) Jesus returned to Nazareth, where he grew up, and began preaching in the synagogue the following Sabbath. Those who knew him from childhood were shocked. They could not understand how a simple carpenter's son could become so wise and do miraculous works. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Galillee-Area-2.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15457,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/moral-principles-for-young-people\/true-peace\/","url_meta":{"origin":15599,"position":5},"title":"True Peace","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"True Peace Author Unknown There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried and submitted their work. The king looked at all the pictures. There were only two he really liked, and he had to choose\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/peace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15599\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}For Further Study<\/h2>\n
Verses to Consider<\/h3>\n
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Questions to Ponder<\/h3>\n
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