Ruth Bell Graham
Ruth Graham was born in China; her parents were American medical missionaries at the Presbyterian Hospital 300 miles north of Shanghai. Ruth was a Christian from an early age. She graduated from Wheaton College, Illinois, where she met her future husband Billy Graham. They were married on August 13, 1943 in Montreat, NC when she was 23. Her husband became a full time evangelist preaching the gospel all over the world. She loved to move behind the scenes, away from the spotlight, and helped him craft and research sermons and even books. She wrote as an emotional release, while her husband was so often on the road. Ruth convinced Billy to move the family to Montreat, near her parents, when their first child was on the way. Her ministry flourished in the mountains of western North Carolina, where she built the family homestead and raised five children. Ruth and Billy were married over 65 years and had 19 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Ruth Graham died at the age of 87.
“Take all away. I am content to knowSuch love is mine-for life is all too briefTo grieve for pleasures bringing only grief;Give me but You; it is enough just so.”
“Down through the years, I turned to the Bible and found in it all that I needed”
“It is a foolish woman who expects her husband to be to her that which only Jesus Christ Himself can be: always ready to forgive, totally understanding, unendingly patient, invariably tender and loving, unfailing in every area, anticipating every need, and making more than adequate provision. Such expectations put a man under an impossible strain”
“If I cannot give my children a perfect mother I can at least give them more of the one they've got--and make that one more loving. I will be available. I will take time to listen, time to play, time to be home when they arrive from school, time to counsel and encouerage.”
“Death -Death can be faced,dealt with, adjusted to,outlived.It's thenot knowingthat destroysinterminably...Thisbeing suspendedin suspense;waiting - weightless,How does one facethe faceless,adjust to nothing?Waiting impliessomething to wait for.Is there?There is One.One who knows...I rest my soul on that.”
“Dear God, I prayed, all unafraid(as we're inclined to do),I do not need a handsome manbut let him be like You;I do not need one big and strongnor yet so very tall,nor need he be some genius,or wealthy, Lord, at all;but let his head be high, dear God,and let his eye be clear,his shoulders straight, whate'er his state,whate'er his earthly sphere;and let his face have character,a ruggedness if soul,and let his whole life show, dear God,a singleness of goal;then when he comes(as he will come)with quiet eyes aglow,I'll understand that he's the manI prayed for long ago.”