IN OUR MIDST
Beatrice Baptist church has been blessed with so many people that have a heart for God and want to share their God given talents with His church. Mrs. Louise Pearson is one such child of God.Louise Chappell grew up in Beatrice and moved to Greenville when she married her husband, Stokes Pearson. Louise and Stokes raised three girls, Bobbie, Marion and Farish. Aside from raising a family and maintaining her home, Louise was very active in helping Stokes run the family businesses, which included farming, operating a mercantile business and a pecan processing company. The pecan processing company, Pearson Pecan Company, put Beatrice on the map nationwide.
After her daughters married and had children Louise was very active in helping to care for her grandchildren and even now, she helps with the care of great grandchildren.
After cutting back on their business operations, Louise and Stokes started spending more time at Stokes ancestral home, the Enoch Riley Place near Beatrice. Upon the death of Stokes, Louise spent more and more time here and started attending Beatrice Baptist Church where she was very active in Sunday School and she also sang in the choir for a time.
She was often called on to give the devotional during the Sunday School Assembly time. The Sunday School members always eagerly anticipated her devotionals and were strengthened and encouraged by them.
Louise mailed the following devotional to Patricia Steele and Patricia presented it to the Sunday School assembly in April, 2003.
The Old Barn
I don't know when the old barn was built. The Enoch Riley house was built in the 1800's so it was built around that time. The square nails and wooden pegs attest to that. The stalls were made of small poles for the horses and mules. There were 2 cribs for corn and a spacious loft for hay where the children would play on a rainy day. It was a majestic building for its kind in that day, and through many hardships it stood sturdy and strong, a friend to people and animals alike.It knew the hardship of virgin land being cleared and the satisfaction of successful crop years. It knew a war where sons and some fathers fought for what they thought was right and came home in defeat. It saw a duel fought on the front lawn where a neighbor was killed instantly and the master died a day or so later.
Through many changes the barn stood strong and faithful.
In 1975 around Christmas The old barn began to show signs of deterioration due to neglect and the many storms it had endured. The word was given that nobody was to go inside the barn again because it had begun to shift and could fall at anytime. Still the old building clung to life and it wasn't until a hot summer day in July that it began to tremble and creak, slowly settling to the ground. The timber and materials were still sound and were used again but evidently rainwater had settled in the pin holes and rotted the wooden dowels that held the joints together.
Parallels between that old barn and our relationships could be made. To make life a sound structure that will serve others and fulfill our own potential we have to remember that strength however massive, cannot endure unless it has the interlocking support of others. Relationships have to be cared for. Letters unwritten, Thanks unsaid, confidences violated, quarrels unsettled, all act like the rainwater seeping into the pegs weakening the links between the beams.
The same could be said about our relationship with Jesus. Bible readings neglected, failing to attend worship services, witnessing deferred, encouragement withheld, fellowship with other Christians diminished. When the basics of a strong and happy life that is pleasing to God are neglected even the strongest among us will become weak and slowly crumble to the ground. Are you guilty? So am I!
(Louise Pearson)
Mrs. Louise we thank you for allowing us to share your handiwork and we thank you for using your talent to bring Honor and Glory to God and encouragement to his followers. We hope that some day we will be privileged to share more of your devotionals.
