Living Long and Well Through Faith

# Living Long and Well Through Faith

Mrs. Cunningham was born on September 26, 1914, in Lauderdale County in the northwestern part of Alabama, USA. This year, 2024, she is 110 years old, yet she remains full of vitality, so much so that recently she enjoyed a weekend celebration of her birthday with her community, family, and friends. She has received many gifts and over 200 birthday cards from people across the United States. Growing up on a rural farm, Mrs. Cunningham worked in the cotton fields picking cotton, and she was able to attend church to worship God. She has lived longer than her four siblings—as well as her husband—and she has over 100 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She has shared that God has kept her safe and peaceful through many difficult circumstances over the past century, including two pandemics—the 1918 flu and COVID-19—and two world wars. As a member of Rock Primitive Baptist Church in Florence, she attends her church group every Sunday and reads her Bible every evening and every morning. She says, "I have always had faith and trusted in God; He will bring us through, no matter what others say."

At home, Mrs. Cunningham cooks, watches television—game shows and crossword puzzles. Her granddaughter and grandson, Pat Turner and Rickie Cole, say she still drove herself to the grocery store until a few months ago. When asked about the secret to her long life, Mrs. Cunningham shared that she does not have any particular secret, but she has expressed her Christian faith. Though she is 110 years old, she still holds faith in God's sovereignty, who is the One who has given her life. She does not know why God has allowed her to live so long, but she has given thanks to God and praised Him, because He has allowed her to live long, to live well, and still continues to bless her, giving her strength so that she can walk and do things for herself.

Thanks be to God, for He has appointed the lifespan of each of us! God has complete authority over each person's life, and in His good plan, we must live with gratitude and praise Him continually! Let us always give thanks to God for:

1. He has given us life and we continue to live happily and well. "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11). "For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

2. God has saved us from death, as Job said, "God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me" (Job 33:28). King David was also saved by God; he said, "The Lord is to be praised; I will call upon the Lord, And I shall be saved from my enemies" (Psalm 18:3); and the apostle Paul declared, "But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion" (2 Timothy 4:17).

3. He is always beside us, watching over and caring for us. "The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore" (Psalm 121:7-8).

4. He gives us the Living Word, which is spiritual nourishment for our souls to live long, to live well, and to live according to God's will. "Your word has given me life" (Psalm 119:50).

May the Holy Spirit of God help us always to live with gratitude to God each day for all that He has given us; may our lives express the love, joy, and eternal peace of God to all those around us! "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift" (2 Corinthians 9:15); "...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57). Amen!

Thanks for God's boundless love, Faithful, loving, for all people, Sovereign, watching, every moment, With all trust in God, my friend!

Praise the Holy Name, Jesus Christ, Glory, almighty, God Most High, His way is perfect, absolute, Joyful proclamation, everywhere!

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