A Family: Present and Connected: Austin Family Book

By Alma Austin Davis

Can you believe or imagine that you can be in the presence of your family and still be disconnected from them? Even though the family that this book is about is a Christian family that practice love and understood the power of prayer. Yet one family member became disconnected from the others.

Follow this family members life and see how God restored him back to the family through prayer, faith, and love. Read how God used this family member to start what is now an annual family reunion that is celebrated for forty-five years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514411582

Alma Austin Davis

Alma Austin Davis is a mother, retired School Teacher, Writer, and an occasional Speaker. She is currently Director of the Baptist Training Union and a member of the Board of Mothers at Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church. She has also served as a Sunday School Teacher, member of the Choir, and Education Information Council. Alma is the seventh of fifteen children born to an Arkansas farmer and a homemaker. After graduating High School at the age of 16, Alma enrolled in Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and normal college (AM&N) now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and received a Bachelor’s Degree. She received a Master’s Degree from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. Alma spent thirty-four years developing the minds of youth. She was selected “Teacher of the Year” in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, “Who’s Who in Missouri Education,” A recipient of the “Apple for the Teacher” award, and served as a member of the Kindergarten Board of Education in St. Louis, Mo. Alma is known for the many activities in which she involved her students including annual trips to the State Capital in Jefferson City, Mo. to observe congress in session, and several overnight trips to Memphis, TN to visit the Civil Rights Museum. After retiring from the Missouri Department of Education, Alma decided to substitute teach, and start a writing career. When she is not pursuing her writing Career, Alma enjoys cooking, watching sports, listening to Gospel Music, reading, and spending quality time with her daughter Angie, and other family members. Alma enjoys writing about her family to honor God, her parents, Richard and Isabellia Austin, and her family. To God Be The Glory!!!

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Alma Austin Davis.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2015915878

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-1160-5

      Softcover      978-1-5144-1159-9

      eBook      978-1-5144-1158-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

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KJV

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible,

King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611.

Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983

by The Zondervan Corporation.

Rev. date: 10/13/2015

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Legacy of Richard and Isabellia Austin As seen through the eyes of each of their children.

Special Testimonies from Richard and Isabellia Austin’s Grandchildren

The Reunion

From a Family to a Nation

Precious Memories

Special Tribute to Apostle Margaret McGhee

Special Testimonies From Reunion Guests

The Future Of The Austin Nation

Acknowledgements

Book Summary

About The Author

DEDICATION

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This book is dedicated to the memory, honor and celebration of the life and legacy of my parents, Richard and Isabellia Austin, Sr.; to the memory of my siblings, Eddie Lee Austin, Sr., James Wilbert Austin, Sr., Pearline Austin Johnson, Johnnie B. Austin Wren, Devellar Mae Austin Sewell, and Gloria Nell Austin. To my nephews Tyrone Wren, Eddie Lee Austin, Jr., Jeffrey Austin, Kenny Ray Austin, Gaylon Breckenridge, and Ricardo Evans, whose lives were far too brief!

INTRODUCTION

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This book is about a family who was and is present and connected. Richard and Isabellia Austin, Sr. and their fifteen siblings are a close knit family that is hard-working, and one that supports and encourages each other. This is because in this Christian Family we were taught to have faith and trust in God, and the power of prayer.

My mother instilled in us how prayer can change circumstances. I remember vividly, growing up, how she would have the family assemble in the living room each Sunday morning for prayer. She would kneel down and pray a powerful message to God that her children would always walk in love and obedience of God, and that we would always stay connected as a family.

I depended on Momma’s prayers so much that after she passed away, I began to wonder who would pray for us and keep us closely knitted together. I prayed and asked God to show me how this family could come together for prayer with us all living in different places. He gave me two words: "Conference calls!" I was so excited about this that I immediately passed the word on to the rest of the family.

In the year 2000, the Austin Family Prayer Conference Calls began.

This book also tells how the parents loved their children enough to allow them to leave home to pursue their dreams, even when they thought this wasn’t the best thing to do at the time. Richard and Isabellia’s eldest son Eddie Lee, was the prodigal son in this family. Even though he was always present, he became disconnected from the family.

Read how Eddie Lee left home without his parent’s blessings, and how he returned after fifteen years. Eddie Lee’s return was instrumental in the starting of the first Austin Family Reunion that has grown and caused God to bless us and promote this family to a Nation.

My father, Richard, Sr., was a hard-working man and a great family provider. He instilled in his children the importance of being unified and staying connected! Our father loved sports and being a sports lover myself, I would always sit in the living room with him and listen to the radio whenever the Brooklyn Dodgers were playing baseball. I really enjoyed these special times with my daddy. His final request was that the family stay together, love one another and pass this rich inheritance to our children and our children’s children.

Alma Austin Davis

P.S. How connected are you to your family?

Legacy of Richard and Isabellia Austin

As seen through the eyes of each of their children.

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The Legacy of Richard and Isabellia Austin as seen through the eyes of each of their children.

A legacy is something that has been handed down by an ancestor.

Each of Richard and Isabellia’s fifteen children had a spirit placed in their hearts. Proverbs 13:22 states that; A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children. Each of Richard and Isabellia’s children has seen the fruits of this legacy from the lives of their parents. Our legacy includes having God as our foundation, knowing the power of prayer,