I was raised in a Christian home by my parents, Alene McDonald Eslick and James A Eslick. I am the middle child of thirteen. My parents lost the eldest child at age four to diphtheria and another as a preemie. Therefore, they raised eleven of us to adulthood, two boys and nine girls.
I was raised in the segregated south and due to the times, opportunities were restricted for my parents. My mother dropped out of high school after her junior year to help care for her dying father. My father was a brilliant fifth grade graduate. My father worked as a tire recapper for thirty plus years for a Chevrolet dealership and another thirty plus years as a bottler and inspector at the local Coca Cola plant. When he passed in 1989, he was still making less than minimum wage. My mother worked 40 years in housekeeping at a dress manufacturing plant, after my younger sister started school. We were not the wealthiest of families but by God’s grace and hard work we survived.
All of my formal education was in segregated school systems. My first week of high school the home economics instructor informed the “girls” of the only four choices we had to pursue as a black female: housewife, secretary, teacher, or nurse. I immediately eliminated those options from my list of choices because I didn’t want to be pigeonholed before my adult life began. Never tell me what I cannot achieve. You see, I'm a believer.
My parents were devout Christians but belonged to different faiths. My mother was a Baptist and my father a Methodist, but the children were all raised Methodist. We would get ready for Sunday School and my dad would drive us to Methodist church while my mother got dressed for church. He would return home to drop her off at the Baptist church then rejoin us at the Methodist church! My mother joined us on Father’s Day, and we all joined her on Mother’s Day at our respective churches. We attended Vacation Bible School at the Baptist Church, and I was baptized at age nine.
We did everything together as a family. In those days there were lots of evangelical events held on the square, in the country at someone’s church or baseball fields and everyone attended. All ethnic groups automatically separated accordingly. Together yet separate.
My mother always stressed to live each day as though it was your last. Do everything to please God. She prayed aloud continually as she worked throughout the day. Thank you, Lord, for the rain, thank you Lord that’s done, thank you Lord, etc.
I had a Prayer Room without realizing it as such! I would go into my mother’s closet and sit on a box that was beneath her hanging dresses that hid my face and talk with God. I can’t tell you what he sounded like because as a kid I didn't think about it. He answered my inquiries and made promises. I was given a name to go and read the Bible to.
I was fortunate enough to receive a college scholarship to Tennessee State University and supplemented with a work/study program. Upon graduation I entered a one year internship program for Medical Technology in Cleveland, OH. Six years later I married and we had a baby boy. When my son turned ten and being a single mother, I realized I need a better income to put him through college. At thirty-eight years old I enrolled into the engineering program at Tenn Tech University. Many people asked me if I was afraid to go back to school after being out of school for fourteen years. My moto has always been ‘where there is a will, there is a way”. I had a framed picture on my wall that gave me strength. It said “All things are possible, if you only believe” Mark 9:23. I was not an easy journey raising a son and working three jobs but the Lord saw me through. After graduation I was recruited by ALCOA and worked in the plant in Evansville, Indiana.
My parents were married fifty-eight years when my father passed. I moved back to Tennessee to be closer to my mother. She died in my home nine years later.
When I went to the doctor one day, I told him I was going to move back north. He said ‘no’ emphatically! I asked why? He just stated you’re going to need medical care but would not elaborate. I ended up going to the Mayo Clinic for further tests. I was told to come prepared to stay a week or maybe two. I was there 3 weeks, leaving with a diagnosis of end stage renal failure.
Vanderbilt Hospital was ready to start me on dialysis. I mentioned this to an associate at church and some little lady overheard me. She interrupted and said ‘Did I hear you say you were looking for a Christian doctor’? She said ‘have I got the doctor for you’. She referenced Wildwood Lifestyle Center in Wildwood Georgia. By Friday I was in their office. Thank God for little old nosy ladies! She became my friend for life. I entered their three-week program, instantly became a vegan, and was baptized into the Adventist faith one year later.
Wildwood put me on a program that kept me off of dialysis for 5 years. It slowed the progression of my kidney failure. I eventually started dialysis and was placed on the transplant list. It was very difficult, and I had many hospital stays.
My son who lived in Indianapolis insisted I move closer to him. After eleven and half years on dialysis, I moved to Indy. The Kidney Foundation immediately placed me at the front of the transplant list. A nurse from St. Vincent visited my dialysis clinic, recruiting potential candidates for transplants. A newly created program for renal transplants was started at St Vincent’s by a young doctor from The Cleveland Clinic. Two weeks later, I received a transplant from the surgeon. We prayed and my surgery was a great success! He immediately asked me to keep him in prayer as he continues his profession with all patients.
God had answered my prayers over and over again.
Matthew 7:7 states, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you". Matthew 21:22 says, "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith".
Praise God, September 17, 2025 will be the 10th anniversary of my transplanted kidney.
Written by Lillie Patterson, 2025
