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I’m grateful for the years spent in the Houston area because they gave me the opportunity to hear and meet many outstanding famous individuals visiting our region. This was especially true when I was just shy of 40, with elementary-school-age sons, and Corrie ten Boom was approaching 90. Our paths crossed in the late 1970s when she was in town for medical appointments and staying with her friend. I had been invited to join a Houston advisory board that was invited to meet Corrie and then attend her informal talk at her friend’s church. Many people speak about having faith, but Corrie’s actions truly demonstrated her faith as she lived it decisively. Over the years, I’ve wondered if I would do the same if the stakes were so high. 

Who was Corrie ten Boom, you ask? 

After the death of Corrie's mother and a disappointing romance, she trained to become a watchmaker. In 1922, she became the first woman licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands. Corrie and her family helped hundreds of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust to protect them from arrest throughout World War II. Eventually betrayed by a fellow Dutch citizen, the entire family was imprisoned. Only Corrie survived and shared her story in her 1971 autobiographical memoir, The Hiding Place, where she recounts their efforts to shelter Jews during the Holocaust. (The Hiding Place also became a play and a movie of the same name.) After 53-year-old Corrie was released from Ravensbrück concentration camp (near Berlin) due to a clerical error, she embarked on a worldwide ministry spanning over 60 countries over the next 33 years to share God’s love and hope despite any circumstances. She passed away in April 1983 on her 91st birthday.

As I approach the age Corrie was when I met her, I recognize three life-changing lessons I learned from her.

First of all, I’m amazed that she was nearing ninety years of age and still traveling the world. I appreciated her honesty in sharing that she had complained to the Lord about being a single woman in her 80s who was tired of traveling and living out of a suitcase. She mentioned that one of the longings of her heart was to be able to put her suitcase away and settle down in one place for her remaining years. After all the suffering and deprivation she endured at Ravensbruck concentration camp, I still find it staggering to consider her tenacity in submitting to God’s direction and being a “Tramp for the Lord,” as she called herself. Even in her 80s, she continued going wherever God opened the door! Her steadfast love for—and obedience to—the Lord amazed me then and even now as I think about it.

Secondly, she showed us a lovely piece of embroidery that she often carried with her, using it to illustrate how to gain perspective on the problems we face. I’ve referenced her example many times over the last fifty years because it left a powerful image in my mind. Each of us is represented by one of the threads woven into the embroidery. Black, red, and even shimmering metallic gold threads crisscrossed that under/back side. There were knots and apparent tangles of colored threads—much like we find as we travel through life. Corrie then revealed the image on the lovely top side of the beautiful needlework. She reminded us that we live on the underside and don’t see the beautiful picture God is weaving with all our lives. 

When times are tough, I remind myself of that image and that I’m just one of the many threads in God’s larger design. This image has consistently helped me understand that God has a purpose for my life, even though I might not see where I fit into the larger picture right now. Yet, I understand He is in control, using all our lives to fulfill His purpose or the bigger picture.

The third way Corrie impacted my life was through her examples showing the importance of forgiveness and how the Lord uses even our act of forgiving others. We’ve all heard many talk about the necessity of forgiveness for achieving peace and happiness, but she demonstrated a much deeper level of forgiveness when she recounted stories such as facing a nurse who had mistreated Corrie’s sister during the final days before her death in the concentration camp. Corrie prayed for the Lord to help her forgive the nurse, which she accomplished with His help, and that act of forgiveness played a crucial role in the nurse’s acceptance of Jesus Christ before her own death.

Corrie recounted several situations, but one memory stands out: she was confronted by a former S.S. prison guard who had tormented them while the men watched and laughed as the female prisoners stripped and showered in front of them. Years later, one such guard heard Corrie speak about love and forgiveness and approached her afterward to express how wonderful it was to have Jesus forgive him. He asked Corrie to forgive him and extended his hand. He was the first actual jailer she had encountered until then. She described how all the memories suddenly flooded her mind and how her heart went cold at the recollection of the terrible treatment she had received from this man.

She told God in prayer, “I can’t forgive him.”

Then Corrie asked God to give her His forgiveness, “I’ll put my hand forth, but God, you will have to give me the feeling of forgiveness in my heart for this former guard.”

She explained as she raised her hand to take his, a surge of electrical warmth suddenly flowed from her shoulder and out her arm to the former enemy’s hand. She was shocked that it accompanied a feeling of true, heartfelt love and forgiveness. Corrie showed me how when Jesus tells us to love our enemies, He gives (along with the command) the love itself.

As I look at the tapestry of her life, it seems Corrie learned humility, to overcome rejection and betrayal, to appreciate the small things (like living quarters being invested with lice), and to trust God and His faithfulness.

She powerfully embodied the qualities of love and forgiveness. She once said, “I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”

I recently discovered that Corrie ten Boom’s childhood home in Haarlem (about 12 miles west of Amsterdam) is now a museum dedicated to her family’s memory. The museum shares the story of sacrificial love that saved the lives of over 800 Jews during the Holocaust. Below is a website where you can take a virtual tour of the Ten Boom Museum, hear some of the story, and view various pictures of their home that has become a museum.

The video exploring her house is posted on the website tenboom.org. Once on the website, click on “Take the TenBoom Museum Virtual Tour.”