By Larry Young

Everyone who has come into contact with God has a testimony to share with others. This article is a tribute to my wife Cheryl, who grew up in an identifiably “Adventist” home, but certainly not a true “Christian” home. Cheryl was horribly abused ‘every which way’ from early childhood until she ended up on the street with a baby in her arms, working as a donut girl for Winchells Donuts in Spring Valley, California. I was in the Navy at that time, stationed on a nuclear submarine in Scotland, but I had just come home on short leave, and was hungry for a maple bar. So, I went to the local Winchells, bought my maple bar, and headed back to Scotland a couple days later. To this day, I don’t remember that I bought that maple bar from Cheryl, but she certainly remembered me!

I completed my submarine duty several months later, returned home, and went back to Winchells for another yummy maple bar. Suddenly, the door flew open, and in walked Cheryl with a friend; she took one look at me, then told me everything I had worn, the maple bar I had bought, and what I was driving a half year earlier. My ‘jaw hit the floor’. Long story short, I fell in love with Cheryl, married her, and that was over 53 years ago. However, as our marriage progressed, many stories of Cheryl’s tragic past came out, and it brought us to tears many times.

She shared how she blamed God for allowing her to be so badly abused: her innocence destroyed at less than 5 years old; used as a scapegoat servant, and repeatedly hurt so bad that she had to be hospitalized. But then her parents would act so “holy” in church. Finally, Cheryl was literally kicked out on the street following the 1969 Loma Linda flood, suffered through a drug-rape pregnancy, and even ate from dumpsters when she couldn’t find work. In spite of all that, there was still a little flame flickering between Cheryl and God.

As a young teenager, Cheryl accompanied her mom one Sabbath when pastor Theodore Venden was preaching about tithes and offerings, but her mom only had a few coins left to buy some badly needed soap. When the offering plate came around, her mom was confronted with the reality to either return tithe using her last money, or keep it to buy the soap. Cheryl saw the look on her mom’s furrowed brow, but out came those coins and into the offering plate they went. Her mom just looked at Cheryl and said: “God will provide”.

As they drove home, Cheryl was literally filled with curiosity and excitement, wondering how God was going to provide… an act of faith. Then, as they arrived back home, Cheryl ran to the front door to see what was hanging on the doorknob. It was a bag with soap samples inside! Wow! God really did that. He really does care about us… even small needs! Pastor Theodore Venden (Morris Vendon’s dad & Lee Venden’s granddad) baptized Cheryl. Even today, Cheryl surmises that when her mom’s coins were put in the plate, God had already sent someone to put those soap samples on their door knob, even though they lived on 10 acres way out in the country.

Cheryl still has raw discussions with God about all the pain and suffering she continues to bear. The difference now is that in her heart, she knows God really loves her, and He has provided for her because she has been faithful to God’s church. When the time comes to meet God, Cheryl may still have a few “choice” things to talk to Him about, but it will be with the one true loving God in Jesus, and He will give her a big hug, welcome her home, and say:” Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matt 25: 21)