By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield
Christ said life would not be easy, especially not for Christians. “These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NKJV).
Ira F. Stanphill enjoyed utilizing his talent for songwriting to give others joy. However, his joy was never complete after his wife's departure from his life. Zelma took his four-year-old son with her.
A well-to-do and affluent Texas businessman’s life suddenly hit rock bottom. He felt he’d come to the end of his trail. He found himself in church that Sunday, hoping for answers to his questions.
Though he was young, he had run out of options for his floundering business. The sermon didn’t help him. Seeking an escape from his misery, he sought solace in a country road. Driving out of the metropolitan area, he found himself in the country. He parked his car down the worst of the country roads and went out for a walk. The road became narrower and the going rougher. Still, he pressed on.
Coming to a dilapidated cottage, he noticed some of the windows had been patched with cardboard. A little girl out front was rocking back and forth in her little rocking chair. She clutched a worn and frayed doll to her bosom, whose appearance wasn’t much better than the little girl’s. Stained with use, with the stuffing protruding from worn cloths the doll looked a sight. The little girl was oblivious to her tattered doll as well as her thread-bare clothing. Caressing the doll to her, the little girl, her face gleaming, a smile echoing her thankful heart, continued to rock back and forth, singing a lullaby.
"Little girl, would you tell me how you can be happy living in such a house? It is broken down, and the windows are out in several places. The doll you have in your hand is broken with the stuffing coming out. How can you be happy?" The little girl looked up with a smiling face and a gesturing hand and said, "Mister, my daddy just came into a lot of money, and he is building us a brand new mansion just over that hilltop."
He felt as if someone had pierced his heart. The businessman was that moved by the honesty of the little girl’s words. Words he often read—but now understood:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you…” (John 14:1-3).
It was then he realized, “That though his earthly business was faltering, the heavenly father had greater things in store for him. It was as though he heard God saying, ‘Son, don't you know that I have a mansion prepared for you just beyond those clouds?’”
The young businessman left that dilapidated cottage and wise little girl with a new determination to live for God. His heavenly Father would take care of him—and His business.
Only, that wasn’t the end of it. The young businessman found himself before the congregation telling his story, that’s when Ira Stanphill heard it, and all night long, tossed and turned only to get up the next morning to write:
I'm satisfied with just a cottage below
A little silver and little gold
But in that city where the ransomed will shine
I want a gold one that's silver lined
I've got a mansion just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we'll never grow old
And some day yonder we'll never more wander
But walk on streets that are purest gold
Though often tempted, tormented and tested
And like the prophet, my pillow is stone
And though I find here, no permanent dwelling
I know He'll give me a mansion of my own
I've got a mansion just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we'll never grow old
And some day yonder we will never more wander
But walk on streets that are purest gold
Don't think me poor or deserted or lonely
I'm not discouraged 'cuz I'm Heaven bound
I'm just a pilgrim in search of a city
I want a mansion, a robe, a crown
I've got a mansion just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we'll never grow old
And some day yonder we'll never more wander
But walk on streets that are purest gold
We'll walk on streets that are purest gold
Ira was granted custody of his son, but sadly was unable to reconcile with his wife, who died tragically in an automobile accident. He never allowed his personal life to have any effects on his faith in Jesus Christ, nor his God-given talent.
Leaning on God, and trusting in faith, believing, as Jesus Christ said, “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
Our talents overlap with each other’s talents in a most inspirational way, as noted by this true story, which happened over seventy years before, in 1948, for others to draw hope and encouragement from. God Bless!
LOVE’S FINAL SUNRISE by Catherine Ulrich Brakefield
New Yorker Ruth Jessup and
Amish-bred Joshua Stutzman lived in different worlds; their lives collided into
catastrophic proportions battling wits against a psychopath and The New World
Order... Fleeing for her life and
suffering from amnesia, Ruth finds herself in an hourglass of yesteryear. Can
Joshua’s Amish ways help them survive these final three-and-one-half years?
Catherine says, "My readers encourage my writing!" An award-winning author, her inspirational historical romances include Wilted Dandelions, her faith-based Destiny series Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, and Waltz with Destiny. Her newest book is Love's Final Sunrise. She's written two pictorial history books. Images of America: The Lapeer Area, and Images of America: Eastern Lapeer County.
https://news.ag.org/en/articles/news/2025/05/this-week-in-ag-history-may-25-1952
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