Faith Stories: Acts of Faith
On October 26, 2013, Pat and Cade Carter celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. The 60+ years spent together were filled with ups and downs like that of most married people and included many acts of faith. However, we did not carry signs with us announcing that we were blessed with faith. We just thanked God for blessing us during our time together. We hope our actions were clear enough to let people know that God was a major part of our marriage. We look forward to more of the same.
Pat and I both were born in Georgia and spent our younger years there. We left that state in 1962 when Cade accepted a research position at the North Mississippi Branch Experiment Station in Holly Springs. After five years there, Cade accepted a research position in Baton Rouge with offices, lab and research areas at LSU. He retired in 1996.
During our childhood and teen years, we were members of the same church in Georgia. After marriage, we joined Methodist churches in our hometowns of Holly Springs, Mississippi and Baton Rouge. Throughout our married journey, Jesus was with us all the way. We firmly believed that God led us through the rough places in our lives and walked by our side when things were going smoothly.
God watched over us during the birth of two children, several hospital stays for Cade and for Pat and many minor deterrents that slowed us down but did not require hospital care. On the other hand, we hope that our 60+ years together and our acts of kindness, love, and comfort to others are sufficient to demonstrate that we have been and are a long-term, faithful couple. The spiritual aspects of our lives were made easier by God during times when we had heavy crosses to bear.
The most severe health hindrance to come our way occurred in 2007 when Pat was diagnosed with an intense liver problem. Although the doctor told us that the liver problem was not curable, God led us to another doctor (a liver specialist) in the Organ Transplant Center at Tulane University in New Orleans. This God-guided doctor used tests and medication to stabilize the deterioration of her liver and eventually had Pat’s condition categorized as ‘in remission.’ Throughout these trying times, faith was shining through, not only from God as he answered our prayers, but also through the doctor, family and friends as they, too, prayed for good reports. This event was one which, thus far, made us humble and brought us closer to Christ. We are pleased and grateful for the progress made; we have faith that Pat will continue to remain in remission and perhaps improve as time passes.
During one evening, soon after we had been told that Pat had a serious problem with her liver, I was at a restaurant to pick up food for our evening meal. A couple of friends from St. John’s UMC were at the restaurant too with plans to eat their food there. The lady happened to see me waiting in the take-out line so she came and invited me to join she and her husband at their table. I had a few minutes to wait so I went to their table and had a fairly long conversation. After that (at church), I told each of them how important their invitation and conversation were to me at that particular time. They probably were not aware of it, but their expressions of faith that day had a major impact on me. This memory will, no doubt, stay with me for the remainder of my time here on earth. I needed someone to talk to at a particular time and place. And this couple was there, sent by God, and ready to talk. WOW! What an act of faith! It was powerful.