BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Her life had been much harder than Pat's. Pat had been one of six children—the only one who survived to adulthood. Pat and her twin brother had been born early in 1934, after their mother fell and broke her pelvis. Her twin had died. Weighing just over two pounds, Pat wasn't expected to live. That's probably when her mother learned to pray through to an answer, Pat had reasoned. That was most likely when she learned to get grape juice and a cracker to take Communion when she prayed. She liked reminding God of His promises. She'd taken Communion and prayed until Pat thrived and grew. Pat's father was a commander in the Navy. Pat only remembered seeing him 14 times in her entire life. When she was 2 years old, another child had hit Pat on the head with a hammer. Her mother had prayed her through brain surgery. When Pat was 5, she su›ered two bouts of double pneumonia. The second time, she went to heaven and saw Jesus. You have to go back, He told her. "I don't want to go back!" She did go back because her mother refused to let her stay. She had prayed Pat through rheumatic fever, malaria, and being unconscious for five days and nights after her appendix was removed. She'd even prayed her through when Pat's pajamas once caught fire. Pat still remembered all the times her mother had paced the floor praying, "Lord, You promised!" She'd even prayed away the scar tissue. By the time Pat returned home to her children, she was calm. She had no idea why churches didn't teach on miracles. But she'd been raised witnessing one miracle after another. She might not have faith like her mother, but she served the same God. He would help her grow in faith and provide for her family. Leaning on the Lord "I graduated from high school when I was 16," Pat recalls. "I attended Azusa Bible School for a year. I had to come home because I had severe headaches for six months. An ophthalmologist said I needed surgery on my eyes. They took my eyes out and worked on the muscles. Then they sewed my eyes back into the sockets. I was bandaged and didn't get to go back to school." When she recovered, Pat got a job, and met and married a career Marine. She was 18. "I had an adopted sister who had a son, Richard. When he was 2 1/2 years old, his mother wasn't emotionally able to take care of him," Pat recalled. "My husband and I talked it over and agreed that we would raise Richard. I always said he was the son of my heart. "We had two more children, Marcella and John. Now, I had to find a way to support them all. "God helped me get a job on the base," says Pat. "IBM had come out with what was considered the first real computer. The Marine base had one of the largest data processing groups anywhere. In order to work there, I had to pass a test with a score no lower than 90. I only missed one question and made a 98. "In 1963 I was put on a team with a warrant o¥cer, a master gunnery sergeant and a lieutenant. I was the only civilian. We were tasked to study what would happen at Y2K. Everybody was worried that things would blow up. "I knew nothing would blow up. We finally all agreed that nothing would blow up, and wrote our report. We figured that if there was a problem, sometime in all the years to come, someone would simply change the coding. "When Y2K was about to happen, my son Richard was working in data processing in Chicago. They were worried that everything would blow up. Richard told them that I was one of the people who wrote the report. They told him to call and ask me to come inspect their computers and see if I thought they'd blow up. "I refused to go. I told them everything would be all right. Richard called me back and said, 'They're o›ering you $500 an hour, but they'll pay whatever you want.' "I told Richard I couldn't take their money because it would be stealing. Nothing was going to blow up. And, of course, it didn't." A Family Man One thing she knew for sure: If she ever remarried, she would make sure the man she married was a Christian. When David, another Marine, proposed, there was no question about his salvation. Together they added two more children to their family, Rachel and David Jr. David hoped to serve his time in the Marines and then return to his home state of Minnesota. They'd prayed about it for a couple of years since his discharge. One Monday morning, a realtor came knocking at their door. 1 8 : B V O V OCT READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Old Testament New Testament Tue 1 Isa. 29-31 2 Tim. 1 Wed 2 Isa. 32-34 2 Tim. 2 Thu 3 Isa. 35:1-37:32 2 Tim. 3 Fri 4 Isa. 37:33-40:26 2 Tim. 4 Sat 5 Isa. 40:27-43:7 Sun 6 Ps. 110-114; Prov. 24:23-34 Mon 7 Isa. 43:8-45:13 Titus 1 Tue 8 Isa. 45:14-48:22 Titus 2 Wed 9 Isa. 49-51 Titus 3 Thu 10 Isa. 52:1-56:8 Philem. Fri 11 Isa. 56:9-59:21 Heb. 1 Sat 12 Isa. 60-63 Sun 13 Ps. 115-118; Prov. 25:1-20 Mon 14 Isa. 64-66 Heb. 2 Tue 15 Jer. 1:1-3:5 Heb. 3 Wed 16 Jer. 3:6-5:13 Heb. 4 Thu 17 Jer. 5:14-7:15 Heb. 5 Fri 18 Jer. 7:16-9:26 Heb. 6 Sat 19 Jer. 10-12 Sun 20 Ps. 119:1-48; Prov. 25:21-26:12 Mon 21 Jer. 13:1-15:9 Heb. 7 Tue 22 Jer. 15:10-17:27 Heb. 8 Wed 23 Jer. 18:1-21:10 Heb. 9 Thu 24 Jer. 21:11-23:29 Heb. 10 Fri 25 Jer. 23:30-26:6 Heb. 11 Sat 26 Jer. 26:7-28:17 Sun 27 Ps. 119:49-88; Prov. 26:13-28 Mon 28 Jer. 29:1-31:9 Heb. 12 Tue 29 Jer. 31:10-32:44 Heb. 13 Wed 30 Jer. 33-35 Jas. 1 Thu 31 Jer. 36:1-38:13 Jas. 2

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