A couple of months ago, I was invited to a Community hymn singing in a traditional Anglican Church, and as we sang the hymn, “Father hear the prayer we offer” written by Love M. (Whitcomb) Willis, the wordings of the third stanza caught my attention…”Not forever by still waters do we ask our way to be, BUT WILL SMITE THE LIVING FOUNTAINS FROM THE ROCKS ALONG OUR WAY.” I pondered on what she could have meant. Undoubtedly, this bears a relationship to the biblical miracle in which Moses struck water from a rock for the Israelites in the wilderness. How would that relate to us today? Is it possible to obtain water from a rock? Certainly, there are aquifers which are rocks that contain groundwater and can be accessed through drilling and pumping. However, drilling is hard work so I believe the concept Madam Willis had, was that strenuous effort will be applied to achieve the goal. As the concept became clearer, the life of Satu played before me.

Satu, is the only child of a widowed mother who had struggled hard in their little village to give her an education. However, she could not finish her secondary school education as a result of lack of funds, so she was given out in marriage at the earliest possible time. Her husband worked as a Cordwainer (shoemaker) with one of the shoe manufacturing outlets in the city. In the city, young Satu enrolled with the famous Pitman’s College for secretarial studies, specialising at the time in typing and shorthand. Armed with certification, she located an employer who typed on a busy street and was agreeable to a sharing ratio on jobs she executed. Satu was enthused and put in her best as she strove to augment the young family of four’s expenses. One fateful day, fortune smiled on her as she typed. She was approached by a bank official who had observed and admired her diligence from afar. He observed her as he took his lunch every day at an eatery down the road from where Satu operated. The officer was saddled with the responsibility of recruiting contract labour to type certain documents on a one-off basis. Needless to say, Satu impressed the bank and when they needed to recruit a permanent staff, she was given the opportunity.

Immediately Satu got her foot in the door, her determination and doggedness to succeed and offer her children a much brighter opportunity than she had experienced, took root and she did all necessary examinations, culminating in an admission to read Law on a part-time basis in one of the prestigious universities in the city. She plodded through the challenges of balancing work, home and school and graduated without any carryovers or delays. One would have expected Satu to relax, after all, she earned a reasonable income and was able to single-handedly educate her children to university level, but not so with Satu. She was insatiable. She set her sights on becoming  a professional. After her children were through with their university education, Satu attended the Law School and was called to the country’s bar. Did she stop…No. Satu went on to train as a Chartered administrator and so after retirement, the little village girl has expanded her horizon, lives on her own property in the city, runs a thriving practice, and visits her children and grandchildren who are currently in the diaspora.

Her story is indeed one huge success story born out of God’s favour and grace, coupled with a determination backed by positive action toward achieving her goal.

Back to Ms. Willis hymn, we can and should be encouraged to smite the living fountains from the rocks along our way. May the Lord grant us empowerment to fulfil our dreams.

Love

Havilah