A Room with a Window

“My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” — from 2 Corinthians 12

By 1931 Amy was sixty-three. The family at Dohnavur had grown to several hundred people, with nurseries, schools, a boys’ compound and a hospital. Amy was still busy every day, walking about, visiting the children, teaching and praying.

On 24 October 1931, as it was getting dark, Amy went to look at a building that was being got ready for the work. Workmen had dug a pit in the floor and left it uncovered. In the dim light Amy did not see it, and she fell in. She broke her leg, hurt her ankle and injured her back.

Everyone thought she would be better in a few weeks. But she never walked properly again. For almost twenty years she lived mostly in one room, often in pain. People at Dohnavur and all over the world prayed for her to be healed, but she was not healed. Like the little girl at the mirror long ago, Amy learned again that no is an answer too.

But the room was not a gloomy place. It had a window onto a garden, and outside it was a bird-bath, where Amy watched the birds come to drink and splash. The children came to visit her. Almost every day she wrote little notes to the people of Dohnavur, with a Bible verse or a kind word. And she wrote books: Gold Cord, the story of Dohnavur; Rose from Brier, for people who were ill or in pain; and a little book called If, about loving others the way Jesus loves us. People all over the world read them, and they still do.

In 1939 Arulai died after a long illness, and Amy was very sad. But she went on praying and writing.

Sometimes we feel weak or stuck. But God can do wonderful things through people who feel weak. He can use you too, just as you are.

Dear God, when I feel weak or ill or stuck, help me to remember that your grace is enough for me. Please use me just as I am. Amen.