Miz Beavers husban' Edwin had jus' recently run off an' left her for some white girl. An ole Rev'ren Tarver, well' his father had jus' passed. An so that's why THEY was cryin'. Don't nobody rightfully know why that child Tonsie Price started actin up. At the time we all reckoned she was pregnant but there wasn't no baby ever born..... Anyway, she got to moanin' an pullin at that little bit a hair she had.
Nex', some man up in the choir stan' commence to prayin' out loud an' we could all hear that his prayers was comin hard thru his tears : "H'ep me jesus, H'ep me".
That got to Miss Scott the choir director an she hop up an start doin a funny little dance all aroun the piano. She looked right comical to me cause one of her legs was shorter than the other but I remember that jus' as I was gettin started laughin somethin stopped me from within. I began to feel somethin strange stirrin inside of me. It didn't take but a few minutes before there was not a dry eye left in the church. One of those what you call chain reactions I reckon.
An' before I knows what is goin ' on I feels some mighty power liftin' me up on my feet and then I am no longer on my feet but rather I feels like I am flyin way too fast but I don't know where it is I am goin' an then when I seen what he wanted to show me there I am back on my feet again. I started shoutin an' they say i was even speakin' in tongues.
I felt my whole body filled up with the power an' the goodness of his love, an' great tears of joy fell down from my eyes. My mamma had a strong holt a me least I should fly away on up to heaven.
When I came back to myself I was seated on my pew nex' to Mamma an' miz Beatrice White one of the rocks of Shady Grove Baptist Church was fannin me an' chantin over an over an over again "PRAISE THE LORD".

I was jus 13 when all this took place an' such a thing had never happened to me in the church before. I couldn't tell you how or why it did happen or if it ever is gonna happen to me again.
The one thing I do know is that while I was sittin there on that hard pew with the sweat an' the tears runnin down my face, I felt free. An till now I aint never felt that exact free feelin ever again in my life. I caught my daddy's eye up in the pulpit (he served on the deacons' board til the day he died) and he looked so happy an' proud. An' I reckon I did feel kinda special. Like we is all special in Gods' sight. I must declare that I ain't never lived a day to top that one, no suh not in 83 years!