My Life Story

By Becky Lynn Black

My Life Story by Becky Lynn Black isn't a celebrity autobiography. It's better. Becky's story is a testimony.

We are promised we can overcome through the word of our testimonies (Rev. 12:11). A testimony doesn't just tell a story to satisfy curiosity. It presents a divine call. The story in this book will call you to put God first, especially in your marriage. It will call you to mission. It is, in fact, the Gospel story. God loves you, died to save you, and calls you to join Him in the ministry of reconciliation. No matter where you go or what problems you face, God will be with you. He will not remove all your troubles, but He will work through you no matter what. When Becky Lynn Black went home to glory, it was not a victory for the cancer that tried to conquer her. It was God's victory over death, shown in the life of His servant.

"Becky Lynn Black was the daughter of missionary parents to Ethiopia and my wife for 37 years. Her life was a story that only God could have written. It is a powerful tale of sacrifice, struggle, hope, and ultimate victory. Her life changed my view of serving God and will certainly challenge yours." -David Alan Black, Dr. M. O. Owens Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

• Language: English
• Publisher: Energion Publications
• Release date: Feb 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781631997174

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My Life Story

Becky Lynn Black

Energion Publications

Gonzalez, FL

2014

Copyright © 2014, Becky Lynn Black

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version®. Copyright © 1996-forever by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission.

The quilt on the front cover was made by Becky for her mother in August, 2008. The dedication reads: Made with love and appreciation for my mother. Becky. Numbers 6:24-26. The quilt now hangs proudly in Mrs. Lapsley’s living room in her Dallas home.

Kindle Edition

Print Edition ISBNs

ISBN10: 1-63199-000-4

ISBN13: 978-1-63199-000-7

Energion Publications

P. O. Box 841

Gonzalez, FL 32560

http://energion.com

[e-mail]

850-525-3916

Publisher’s Foreword

A publisher’s foreword is intended to tell you why I published this book and why you should read it. I’m going to skip that. I want to tell you why you should act on it.

Becky Lynn Black was not the sort of person normally recognized in an autobiography. She wasn’t the head of a ministry. She didn’t lead a church order. She wasn’t a celebrity.

But by the way God counts importance in His kingdom, she was extraordinary. She found the one thing that counts, her place as a servant. She said yes to Jesus Christ, and she knew that yes meant more than a ticket to heaven. It meant a life of service in answer to God’s call.

Toward the end of her pilgrimage (and she knew she was a pilgrim!) here on earth, she took the time and energy to tell her story, the story of God working in and through her to change many lives all over the world. She gave her witness to her creator and redeemer. The psalmist challenges us not to hide God’s great deeds from generations to come (Ps. 78:4), and Becky obeyed.

I’ve spent a great deal of time reading and thinking about Hebrews 11, the honor roll of faith, as it’s often called. If you read the stories of these people, you’ll find they’re quite a varied lot. But they have one thing in common: When God called, they answered. In the end, it could be said for that one reason that [t]he world wasn’t worthy of them (Heb. 11:38).

Of course I want you to read this book. But what’s most important is that you act on it. And when you have acted, bear witness, whether to one or to thousands.

Will you answer God’s call?

Henry E. Neufeld

February 6, 2014

Acknowledgements

As Becky’s husband, I was thrilled when she decided to write the story of her life. As she finished each chapter, I edited it for style but left the content essentially as it came from her hand. Toward the end of Becky’s life, when she became too weak to type, our daughters Karen and Matthea took dictation then sent a transcription to me for final editing. My personal assistant, Mr. Jacob Cerone, as well as my daughter Liz, aided in the editing and proofreading. Finally, Mr. Henry Neufeld of Energion Publications offered many helpful suggestions that improved the quality of the book. To all of these I extend my heartfelt thanks.

Soli Deo Gloria.

David Alan Black

Table of Contents

Publisher’s Foreword iii

Acknowledgements iv

Introduction 1

Beginning

at the Beginning 3

Strengthened through Hardship:

Growing up in Ethiopia 18

Bending His Way 35

Early Marriage 49

Motherhood 65

Stewardship Lived Out (Careers) 73

Stateside Ministries 85

Ministries Abroad 99

Lies, Lies, Lies 125

The Last Years 137

Postscript:

David Alan Black 155

Introduction

My Life Story

It’s not everyday that an ordinary person writes an autobiography. I suppose that people write about themselves for different reasons. My desire to write came not too long after my diagnosis with an aggressive uterine cancer. I was not expected to live long, and there was an urge to do as much as I could to impact the world for Christ and His Kingdom.

At the beginning of our cancer journey, my husband Dave and I decided to live according to truth and transparency. We would embrace all truth (both physical and spiritual), and we would be transparent. The truth was to help us; the transparency was to help others.

God has blessed this orientation and commitment. Though we have occasionally received an email criticizing us for something, in general the response from people has been appreciative and supportive.

And so I begin this autobiography with the same focus: to tell the truth to the best of my ability, and to be transparent with you.

My goal is simple: that Jesus Christ be lifted up, so that He can draw men and women to Himself, and so that He can generate holiness in their lives.

My life has not been perfect. Is there such a life? I will not pretend that it has been. It has been blessed in many ways, but it has also been touched by sin, as all lives are. You will encounter both the blessings and the sin.

My hope is that, in these chapters, you will see a God who knows, who loves, and who redeems our lives from destruction. If there is anything good that you see in these pages, or that comes to your life through these pages, all praise goes to Him who has known me, loved me, and redeemed me from destruction.

Beginning

at the Beginning

From Eternity Past

To begin at the beginning of my life, we must start in eternity past. Ephesians 1 and Psalm 139 are two of the many passages that speak about the Lord’s specific ordering of creation. My place in His universe was set in eternity past, long before He took action on any of His plans, long before He spoke the world, the sun and moon and stars, and the animals and birds and fish into existence. Even before He worked the creation of Adam and Eve, I was in His mind.

This is true of everyone. It is true of me and it is true of you. By the grace of God, He confirmed this truth in my innermost being at a very young age, and it has been an anchor to my identity. I did not just happen; I was not a natural consequence of human actions. I was not an event in the lives of my parents. No, God specifically chose to create me, Becky Lynn Lapsley Black. His love made this choice, so that He would be able, through that love, to magnify His glory. The love He showed by creating me has been a deep-seated reality to me throughout life.

As I write, I think of the many quilts I have made over the years. Each quilt began as an idea that was shaped by my personality: its colors, its size, and its style. Everything about each quilt was an expression of me and my desire to serve others. As I worked on each quilt, choosing the fabrics, cutting and sewing the top, and carefully hand-stitching the quilting day after day, I poured myself into that quilt. When I finished, I always signed, dated, and noted a Scripture passage in the back corner. I put my name to my creation. The few who knew me well could identify a story in my life that went with the quilt. Those who knew me a little could look at one of my quilts and be able to identify it as mine; it looked like me. Those who didn’t know me at all would admire the handiwork, but it wasn’t until they turned the quilt over and read my name that they could identify the creator of the quilt.

And so it is with the Becky Lynn Lapsley Black Quilt made by the Lord Jesus. From His mind and heart, according to His desires and for His purposes, I was planned and created at the perfect place and time in history. King David had this same sense of his destiny. In Psalm 139 he says to God:

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

[My baby shoe, 1954.]

As God planned and created my body and personality according to His love and purposes, so He also planned to call me to be His child. On May 12, 1953, my body was born into the world, but my spirit was dead. The Scriptures teach that at birth, we are dead in trespasses and sins. We have the physical ability to communicate with our fellow man, but we have no ability to communicate with our God. The sin of Adam and Eve has robbed every person born of woman; their sin is inherited by every person, and their banishment from the Garden of fellowship with the Creator is also inherited.

Scripture teaches that God’s heart is to embrace every person into His family of righteousness. He does not desire that any should be banished from Him. His heart is one of love for each human being. And He made a way, sacrificing His most-precious thing, His own dear Son, so that those He loved into existence could have a way to His table and home.

But how can dead people get up, walk, and find the way to the Father’s table? It is impossible, unless the Father awakens them, breathing spiritual life into them, and causing them to choose the way He has provided.

I do not pretend to understand the doctrine of predestination. There are many things about God and His ways that I do not understand. This gap in my understanding has never disturbed me. I know that the day I understand everything about God and His ways is the day that He ceases to be beyond me, he ceases to be God. Yes, He enabled me to think, evaluate, consider, and judge. The exercise of these abilities, however, must be done in humility. Part of using them correctly is accepting the reality of their limitations.

Some people are tempted to throw all the words of God away because they cannot understand some of them. Scientists, historians, and other specialists accept their limitations. As we come to the study of God, why are we not willing to accept limitations? I am continually amazed at mankind’s pride in dealing with the Almighty One. It is subtle, but it is there: If it doesn’t make sense to me, then I do not accept it.

Personally, I have never struggled with the trustworthiness of the Scriptures or the living God they present. I believe them, and I live by faith. Every person must live by faith. As each person reaches adulthood, he or she must choose whom or what to trust. The vast majority of mankind chooses their own judgment or society’s norms. Most decide by default, not realizing that they are making a decision.

As the storms of life arise, the foundation upon which we stand, the truth basis that we have chosen, the belief system we have embraced is tested. It is only a matter of time before all false systems of truth, which are systems of lies from the Evil One, fail us. Sometimes that event happens early, and it leaves people disillusioned, distrustful, depressed, angry, cynical, and with backs turned against God in rebellion. Sometimes that event creates a complete paradigm shift from one belief system to another. Reaching from one leaking lifeboat to another might give a temporary sense of safety, but it is only a matter of time before the next trauma in life shows the second lifeboat to be just as untrustworthy.

There are many things I do not understand about my Father. How does He create so many people? How does He love each and every individual personally and completely? I do not understand how He desires them to have a relationship with Him, how He has made a way for them to His table, and yet He breathes His Spirit into only a select group, so that they can arise and come to His table.

The Scriptures teach this about my Father. I do not understand it, but I accept it. And one day, when I am at His side without the residue of sin bombarding my thinking, I will understand Him completely. Is this not what 1 Corinthians 13:12 teaches? Now we see only an indistinct image in a mirror, but then we will be face to face. Now what I know is incomplete, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

I am content to know that one day I will understand. I am content to live in a period of time with an incomplete understanding of Him and His ways. It is actually a blessing that I do not understand all things about Him. If I did, I would have a complete grasp of how vast, how utterly beyond description, and how wide the gulf is between us because of my sin. I would see the brutal ugliness of who I am; the stench of my sin would overcome and immobilize me.

But in His grace, He has given me only a measure of understanding both of my sin and of His way, so that I am not overwhelmed. That measure includes the fact that He chose me from eternity past not only to come into existence physically, but also to be made alive spiritually, purified by the Son, and made fit to sit with the Father at His table. Why did He choose to give me His life? Out of the billions of people upon this earth, why me? I will never know, except that somehow He decided that through this simple person His glory could shine, and His purpose in creation would be satisfied.

My Spiritual Birth

Years ago, when I quilted, I started by designing the quilt on paper. Then I would head to a huge warehouse of fabric. There I spent hours considering fabric. I would simply glance at the texture, weight, color, or design of most of the fabric; they were quickly discarded, because they did not fit the quilt in my mind. A few pieces I pulled from the stacks and considered more carefully, playing with them in my head. Still fewer pieces were gathered together to see how they fit with each other. In the end, out of the thousands upon thousands of folded bolts of fabric, I left the store with a handful, confident that these carefully chosen