Bringing Elizabeth Home Read Online Free Page B

of age. By the time Elizabeth reached middle school, she had become a talented musician and performer. She worked very hard to master her skill, and she hopes to someday attend the Juilliard School in New York City. Anyone who really knows Elizabeth recognizes her playful, mischievous side. She has a quick wit and a great sense of humor, and if she is inspired, she can quote long passages from her favorite Sandra Bullock movie, Miss Congeniality.
    Elizabeth has a very determined mind. If she sets her sights on something, she will get it. She has those certain qualities that separate enduring from merely getting through adversity. For us these qualities are spiritual in nature, and come from fully trusting in God. We found comfort in our prayers, certain that God would give us the strength to survive, if not triumph over, our tribulation.

Chapter 5
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Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed. Has anyone's burden been lighter today, because I was willing to share? Have the sick and weary been helped on their way? When they needed my help was I there? Then wake up and do something more than dream of your mansions above. Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, a blessing of duty and love.
    —WILL L. THOMPSON
    I WAS BORN OF wonderful parents. Through good and bad, they have always been there for me. My parents, Dorotha and Charles, had six children, including me. Though I was born in Utah, we moved coast to coast a few times while I was growing up. My father is a physician and completed his internship on the west coast and his residency on the east coast. This moving and the usual demands of a physician left a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of my mother. She is strong willed and has a strong faith. That faith has always been followed by action. As in James 2:20, “Faith without works is dead.” She leads by an example of action.
    I have felt the Lord's hand in my life many times. When my mother was pregnant with my sister Angela, I and my brothers came down with a case of the measles, which my mother then also contracted. This was of great concern to my parents. They were encouraged by other physicians to abort the pregnancy, as it was most probable that the baby would be born abnormal. Through prayer, faith, and a blessing, my mother carried that pregnancy to term. Angela was born with no complications. She is a blessing to us all.
    While we were living in Washington, D.C., my father decided to take all of us on a boat trip to Tangier Island. He loved to go boating. We put into the water where the Potomac River reaches the Chesapeake. This time, the fog was so thick you could hardly see your hand in front of your face, but it was expected to burn off, so we went on our way, using a compass and nautical maps and sound buoys to plot our course. The buoys in the water helped to keep us on track. As we went farther into the channel, the air remained as thick as it was when we left, making all of us very nervous as we tried to make our way to the island. We detoured to a larger island first. We arrived safely, but realized that we would have to find another way back to avoid the fog, so we chose another route. We soon found ourselves in even more hazardous conditions, approaching a shoal where the water was especially shallow. We could have easily ripped the bottom of the boat out if my dad had made one wrong turn before reaching the outlet. After unsuccessfully trying to navigate our way out, my father suggested that we turn to prayer. We had been lost for more than an hour, wandering and fearful that we would be stranded. We took Dad's advice and prayed. Soon thereafter, we heard a bell in the distance that guided us back toward Tangier Island and home.
    My father is the kind of man who never gives up on anything. He leads his family by example. Two of his favorite hymns that I remember are Lead