Darkness To Light – A Post From My Mom

My mom wrote the following post in August of 2009. She went home to Jesus on 4/23/16.

The people who walked in
darkness
Have seen a great light
Those who dwelt in the land of
the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
Isaiah 9:2

The above verse exemplifies nicely the beginning of an incredible new journey that began when the doctor announced I had only two days of life left within me. According to him, the cirrhosis of my liver had progressed to the point of no return, and there was nothing that could be done. Thus, I began on my path in the shadow of death, leading me daily away from the darkness and towards the light; the most unexpected, spirit-filled, eye-opening, gracious, joyous journey I have ever had the pleasure to experience. So powerful is my journey that it is impossible for the mind to wrap around, no words to express the many endowments.

Jesus is with me every step of the way, and the truths he uncovers for me each day are overwhelmingly awesome. It is no less than a miracle that is happening within me due to his teachings. I am surely and truly blessed by God’s grace.

I had unknowingly taken the first step of my mysterious journey a few weeks earlier when I heard “The Voice” in my living room as I posed to take the first drink of the day, the usual, Vodka and 7Up. “The Voice” commanded me to put that drink down – you do not need it, do not want it, do not even like the taste of it….this was so powerful and true that I knew then it was the Voice of God, and I listened. Without taking a sip I rose from the couch, the untouched drink in my hand, headed to the kitchen sink and poured it down the drain. Yes, I listened.

My hard drinking began somewhere in the mid-1980s, and barely a day went by without the ritual of preparing a drink and then drinking one after another until I was done for the evening. It had become routine, and I did not question the reasons.

I can proudly say that I have not had a drink since that “Day of The Voice”. It has been over a year now and I no longer covet a drink. I have walked away from the darkness and into the light. That happened two weeks before my encounter with the hospital. Praise The Lord. I believe with all my heart that if I had taken that first gulp of liquor,  mid-July 2008, I would have dropped dead then and there and left a shameful legacy for my two precious daughters, Sarah Mae and Keitha Marie. Praise Jesus, he saved them from that.

Well, that is the beginning of my story, a story my first-born child, Sarah, insisted must be written. There is plenty more – my life before being saved and after being saved is chock full of a plethora of all kinds of stuff!

Thanks for listening, God bless you and keep you,

Susan Lynn Sherman Van Deilen Clark Messer Potts, the mother of a most precious and special daughter, Sarah Mae.