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Backstory:
I think we can learn a lot from our ancestors. One of my ancestors I have always felt a strong connection to is my third-great-grandmother on my Mom’s side, Amanda Barnes Smith. She went through so many hard trials and kept her faith through it all. I can’t imagine what she went through. That’s probably why I am drawn to her, because of her faith during her hard times.

Refined By God's Fire

Amanda in my family history went through so much,
I am drawn to her because of her faith in her Heavenly Father’s touch.
She was married and her family moved with the members of her faith to Missouri,
Things were fine for a while but there was a mob who came with a fury.

The mob drove them out of their home
And for a while they had to just roam.
They felt directed to a place called Haun’s Mill,
This was a place where her husband and one of her sons was killed.

This trial would have been enough to shake her faith,
And probably in her heart she felt a huge weight.
Another son named Alma was shot but not dead,
His hip needed to be repaired and she felt inspired and led.

The story of how she repaired her son’s hip is miraculous,
She trusted in her Heavenly Father for help and saved her son from paralysis.
As far as I know, her faith never failed,
She trusted that her son would be healed and she let God prevail.

Her son was healed even though it took a while,
And I’m sure she had many reasons not to smile.
Her story is such an example to me,
And that helps my faith so that I can more clearly see.

The Takeaway: We can learn a lot from other people’s stories, especially from our ancestors. Just reading their stories and hearing how they made it through their trials can help us feel strength and have more faith when we face hard times. 

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