A Mother’s Dream

A Mother’s Dream

“What a doctor you will make!”

W. A. CRISWELL heard these words hundreds of times from his mother while growing up in rural Texas in the 1910s.

When Criswell was ten years old, the Southern Baptist church the family attended held a Wednesday morning service during its annual revival. Sitting next to his mother, he realized that this would be the day he would accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his mother leaned over and asked him, “W. A., will you give your heart to Jesus today?”

“Yes, Mother,” he answered, “I will.” And when the evangelist invited those who would put their faith in Jesus to come forward, young Criswell did.

Criswell’s mother willingly sacrificed her own life in order to guarantee a good education for her son. Three different times she temporarily left her husband and moved with her son to further his education—first, to be closer to his elementary school, then to be sure that he graduated from an accredited high school, and then to oversee his education at Baylor University.

Criswell felt called to the ministry. Although his mother was a committed Christian, her lifelong dream was that her son would rise out of poverty by becoming a doctor. She kept hoping that he would outgrow his interest in becoming a preacher. At Baylor he spent every spare minute evangelizing, making his mother very concerned about his “preoccupation.” When he received four A’s and a B+ his first semester, his mother replied sternly, “It isn’t easy getting into medical school. Every B+ is a mark against us.”

Criswell and his mother returned home to Amarillo for the summer. Although she realized her dream was slowly dying, she still occasionally brought up the subject of his becoming a doctor. “There’s plenty of time to choose a premed major, and you could preach on the side. A doctor with a gift for preaching would be quite unique, you know.”

Finally Criswell replied firmly, “I love you, Mother, but God has called me to preach, and I have to answer that call.”

At the end of that first summer at home from Baylor, Criswell was ordained into the Southern Baptist ministry. On August 29, 1928, after being questioned by six Baptist leaders to determine that his conversion was genuine, that he was called to the ministry, and that he was well versed in Baptist doctrine, he was ordained. He eagerly scanned the crowd for his parents but did not see them. Then the pastors and deacons laid hands on Criswell and prayed for him. As the congregation echoed their last amen, he was relieved to catch a quick glimpse of his parents. His mother was smiling through her tears, and his father was looking pleased and proud. Criswell was overjoyed.

The next morning W. A. Criswell boarded the train alone for Baylor. His mother had devoted thirteen years of her life to her son’s education, all with the dream of his becoming a doctor. She finally realized that God’s call on his life was stronger than her dream, and it was time for her to step aside.

W. A. Criswell graduated from Baylor University and then received a Th.M. and Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastored for a few years in Oklahoma before accepting a call from First Baptist Church of Dallas in 1944, where he served for almost fifty years. Under Criswell’s ministry the church became the largest Southern Baptist congregation in the nation with nearly twenty-six thousand members. He wrote more than fifty books and was considered one of the great preachers of America.

W. A. Criswell died on January 10, 2002, at the age of ninety-two.

Reflection

If you have children, have you ever found yourself imposing your ambitions on them? Have you personally had someone try to point your life in a direction you did not want to go? We all have to be careful about imposing our will on those around us.

That does not mean we want to tell you exactly how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy as you stand firm in your faith.

2 Corinthians 1:24