My Grace-Full Life

Why Is There Evil in the World?

BY DENISE HEIDEL

Between COVID-19, riots, looting, unemployment, and a crashed economy, there have been a lot of people asking, “Why?” Why has God allowed this? Why is there evil in this world? I’ve spent a lot of time recently on these kinds of questions…two weeks actually. On my website, I recently finished a series in response to hard questions that both believers and non-believers ask. So with all that said, if God is good, why is there evil in the world?

The thing is—at some point or another, we all doubt. We all ask questions. I understand trying to reconcile the God of love with the God of justice. But we have got to stop trying to put God into a box of our own design. We’ve got to stop expecting God to do everything precisely as we think things should be done! At some point, we’ve got to stop questioning Him at every turn and take Him at His word! He’s already told us that His ways and thoughts are not like ours (Isaiah 55:8- 9)! And as it says in Isaiah 29:16, “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?”

We have evil in this world because it’s a fallen, broken world. Plain and simple. We have to stop expecting earth to be perfection, because Heaven on earth isn’t here…yet. That’s a different topic. But the world has been broken ever since the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve messed things up because they bit into Satan’s lie with as much vigor as they bit into the forbidden fruit. And sin has been a global pandemic ever since. So we can’t keep blaming God that the world is broken. Blame Adam, Eve, and the snake! Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation, and the rest is history.

I know that’s not the answer that some people want. But let me counter this question with another question—if we could have things perfect here and right now, what would be the point of Heaven?

Believe me, I’ve wondered why, too. I have also wondered why our all-powerful, allknowing God even bothered to make us! Being all-knowing, He knew that Adam and Eve were going to sin, and the world would be polluted with sin and evil. I don’t understand, either. But I’m not God. I’m not supposed to understand. I go back to the verse from Isaiah—as the clay, I don’t get to question the Potter’s decisions. He is the Creator; He has the final say.

There are a lot of unknowns out there. And as the created beings, our responsibility is to trust God when He tells us that His ways are higher than ours. We choose to take Him at His word completely, or not at all. But I truly believe that one day, we will understand why God has allowed certain things to happen. I think, someday, we will see the good He still brought from this fallen, broken world in which we live.

Read more at MyGraceFullLife.com.

WBFJ

Dr. and Mrs. Street of 545 Oaklawn Avenue

The story goes that Miss Julia Lilly Montgomery came to teach in WinstonSalem for an incredibly special reason. Her faculty advisor at the North Carolina College for Women in Greensboro told her that Winston-Salem paid its teachers a higher salary than any other place in North Carolina! She got a job and a room in a house where women rented rooms and boarded for meals. One day a handsome gentleman came in to eat and spotted her in a line of lovely young women waiting to go in the dining room.

He said to himself, “That’s my girl!” But she didn’t know that until later! Back in the hall that evening, she got a call on the hall telephone, and one of the young women called out, “Julia Lilly, it’s some doctor calling for you.”

Dr. Claudius Augustus Street was the Forsyth County Physician, and he invited Miss Montgomery to ride in his Model T Ford around the county, seeing patients and courting at the same time. At the end of one week, they were engaged to be married. He was hoping for a summer wedding, but Miss Montgomery had promised the Children’s Home Society in Greensboro that she would work for them as a sort of social worker all summer, checking out homes and making sure the environments were safe and happy for the children. She was a woman of her word, and happily completed the work she had promised to do.

After the summer, a simple wedding in First Baptist Church in Raleigh happened in the fall of 1924. Dr. Street was a Harvard Medical School graduate. He had grown up in the Linville Falls area of North Carolina, so he took Mrs. Street up to meet his family after the wedding. She was quite surprised at the deeply rustic nature of the roads and the mountains of Avery County, being a Raleigh girl. She grew to adore and later write about the mountain folks in her children’s books: Fiddlers Fancy and Moccasin Tracks. BY JULIA M. FALLON The newlyweds purchased a home in Ardmore, and Carol Montgomery Street was born on January 1, 1926. The newspaper stated, “First Baby of the Year Daughter of the County Physician.” Dr. Street became sure that he wanted to learn about the fascinating new study of pediatric medicine, which was just emerging, so he took Julia Lilly, baby Carol, and they moved to St. Louis Missouri for him to get a residency and learn pediatric medicine at Children’s Hospital of Washington University Medical School. His Harvard Medical School training had served him well. And all from a country boy from Linville Falls! Dr. Street never lost his love of “old-timee” music and treasured watching the Grand Ole Opry on television.

They returned from St. Louis, and Dr. Street started his practice in the Spring Street area, where he practiced pediatric medicine until his death in 1968. He was known as a very caring doctor and drove countless miles in his Comet visiting patients. Being his granddaughter, I can remember him opening his glove compartment and getting a sugar cube out, which he kept for his blood-sugar emergencies. He always shared with his grandchildren. It was a special treat!

Another special thing about my Grandaddy was his bowties. Once I asked my mama why he didn’t wear a necktie like daddy. She said, ask him! “He said in his kind voice: “The babies grab a necktie, it’s harder for them to reach a bowtie!” Makes good sense!

The family had selected Centenary United Methodist Church as their choice, and Mrs. Street continued there until she passed. They were very proud of this fine growing church and the great minister, Dr. Mark Depp, who christened their grandchildren.

Their pets were generally Siamese cats. In the 1980s Mrs. Street adopted a white kitty named Sister, who was great company to her in later years.

Dr. Street was always on the phone, talking to anxious parents, and never retired, practicing pediatric medicine until the time of his passing. He spent much time driving around to homes and, having grown up poor himself, always helped people, regardless of their ability to pay. He was also an excellent diagnostician, and was known as a holistic doctor before it became fashionable. He always treated the whole patient and cared about promoting the health of the children of Forsyth County and surrounding areas.

Julia Lilly and Claude added a son Gus in 1928, and they moved into a new home at 545 Oaklawn Avenue. Carol and Gus enjoyed all the pleasures of living in Winston-Salem, with great friends: The Shores, the Stocktons, the Prongays, and others. Carol became friends with Jane Pollard who lived on Stratford Road, a block away. Jane and Carol remained friends their entire lives. Both attended Women’s College in Greensboro and later moved to Raleigh, and settled and had families of their own. Carol Street’s wedding to Archie McMillan of Raleigh was due to be a large affair at the family’s beloved Centenary Methodist, with a wedding reception at Forsyth Country Club. The event was drastically changed due to one of the biggest snowstorms in Winston

Salem history on January 22, 1954. The wedding was held at the church, but the reception was held on Oaklawn Avenue, with neighbors supplying the food and cake!

Gus and Mary Jane Street moved to a farm in Davey County, where they raised dairy cattle and later created an airport called Strawberry Hill. Carol and Archie had five children, and Gus and Mary Jane had four children. Carol supported Archie in his legal and legislative careers.

Mrs. Street made fast friends and became a member of a women’s birthday club that included her friend, Ruth Prongay. The club continued from 1930 until about 1990!

She also became a writer of radio shows, children’s books, and poetry. In her later years, she published a book review column in a local weekly newspaper called The Suburbanite. She taught writing at the Winston-Salem YWCA-sponsored writing classes, which produced many published authors.

Grandchildren visited the home on Oaklawn Avenue, and after Dr. Street passed away in 1968, Mrs. Street continued to live in the house she loved until 1991. Grandchildren brought their children to visit their beloved “WuWu.”

In later years she thoroughly enjoyed her Oaklawn Avenue neighbors such as Drs. Carolyn and Ben Huntley and Iris and Harry Reed. She also loved the Winston- Salem and Forsyth County community, as well as the local and state writer’s communities. A book signing was held in her honor in Old Salem of a revised edition of her Moravian children’s book, Candle Love Feast. She was 93 at the time! She moved to Davey County then to live with her son and daughter-in-law. Julia Lilly lived to the fine old age of 95 and received the North Carolina Society of Historians: Historian of the Year (West) award posthumously.

So, Dr. And Mrs. Street lived a quiet and quite wonderful WinstonSalem life! Helping others and raising a family was what they were all about. 545 Oaklawn Avenue was a very special place indeed.