As For Me and My House

Most of us are familiar with people who have said that they raised their children in church and the way they should go, but the children decided at some point that that is not what they wanted to do. The parent then explains to us that it's the child's choice and we cannot force it. This explanation leaves us a little frightened and concerned that our children might do the same thing and it is not a satisfactory option for most of us. Yet, who wants to be accused of forcing and coercing their children to follow God?

The title of this article is taken from scripture and has the words of Joshua.  Apparently Joshua decided his whole household would serve the Lord. We don't have any record that he asked them what they wanted to do.  We also have two examples in Acts 16 of people who believed along with their household.  The jailer who was responsible for Paul and Silas believed with great joy as well as his household. I believe his joy in coming to know Christ was a factor in pulling his family in. Then there is Lydia who was baptized with her household. Could it be her example of service and her love for Jesus and His followers compelled her family to believe as well?  I don't think any of us could disagree with the idea that neither this jailer nor Lydia went home with a controlling, insensitive attitude and simply insisted that this is what the whole family was going to do! It only seems reasonable knowing the scriptures and knowing God that the they would have come home excited and so grateful for the Lord's intervention and so in awe of God's power that their families were pulled in along with them!  Song of Solomon says in chapter 1 verse 4, "Draw me away! We will run after you."

Isn't that what we all want?  Our hearts desire is that our children will so see God in us in and in other belivers around them that they will be drawn in.  Our love for the Lord and our love for scripture are so important.  We also need a consistency and obedience to that word of God with a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. These are the elements that lay the groundwork for a household that yearns after God.

Once we have this groundwork in place, we can recognize the role we have as parents in establishing spiritual habits that are life changing for our children. Children are made impressionable so that we can impress God on their hearts. In Genesis 18:19, the Lord says that he chose Abraham "that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way the Lord by doing righteousness and justice".

So first of all, we make sure our hearts are right with the Lord and our attitudes are clear with people, then we are prepared to instill these spiritual habits in our children. If we skip the first step, then we will drive them away rather than gather them in with us.

That said, there is danger in letting our children choose which way they want to go without putting effort into making sure that the gospel is as appealing as it should be to our family. Why is it dangerous to let the children just choose without the training in the way they should go? It's because the flesh will more often than not choose the way of selfish indulgence. Therefore, we must endeavor to instill habits that are engulfing spiritual disciplines. Let's get started with some ideas.

Self denial: this discipline is essential to all the others I believe. We instill self denial by training them in first time cheerful obedience. We build upon that with instruction in doing God's will in other areas of personal discipline and service to others.  Matthew 16:24

Devotions: after hearing most of my friends in Christian circles saying that they had a hard time disciplining themselves to have daily devotions, I decided our children would learn that habit early. Starting as toddlers, we would set our child down in the morning with a Bible story picture book and instruct them to look through it. This exercise may only take a minute or two but it became a routine. This routine grew into longer sessions as they learned to read and we gave them appropriate lengths of scripture to read and helped them create a prayer and praise list. Mark 1:35, Psalm 119:48

Regular Church attendance when the doors of the church were open: extracurricular activities did not take us away from church. We expressed our desire to be with God's people and we expressed our appreciation for what we learned and how we were blessed. Hebrews 10:25

Loving the saints and prayer warriors: we would talk about the saints and prayer warriors in our church in a positive way. They were our heroes. They were who we wanted to emulate. It came to be at birthdays that our children would invite these adults to their parties before even their peers! 

Loving the carnal: we did not deny the fact that there were carnal Christians amongst us. When our children would struggle with this, we would have acknowledgment that what the carnal Christian was doing was wrong, We also would have discussion about how we all are in the process of growing and we need to give each other grace. We would discuss some of the positive things in these person's lives. We also would talk about prayer for these individuals. There would be instruction on how to respond when carnal things were said or done. They also would see us reach out to these carnal ones and not avoid them. 1 Peter 2:17

Participation in church: We explained to our children what a blessing it is to the older ones and what a challenge it is to their peers when children and young people obey God in church. Explain that we are a Christian family and you want to help lift the arms of the pastor and not make him drag us along. At this point, you can tell them that you would like them to say a quick praise the Lord during testimony time the next Sunday. Also that you would like for them to start saying a short prayer in prayer meeting. This is especially important for those who are more shy and introverted. Once they do it, there is much affirmation and encouragement that they are participating in the body of Christ and being obedient to the Lord. Ephesians 4:16, 1 Timothy 4:12

Being Kingdom focused: we allowed our children to see us make decisions that were Kingdom focused. We exposed them to our thought processes about why we did or did not do any particular extracurricular activity. If we were deciding about where to go on vacation, did we have godly direction or godly purpose? And on our way there, we would memorize hymns together and listen to godly stories together.  If they learned a musical instrument, it was for the purpose of using for God's glory in worship. If we were helping them develop another gift academically or a life skill, it would be worded in the context of this is how you can use this for God someday.  They saw us seeking the Lord and his guidance about where we were to live, how we were to school them as well as other areas like what we watched, what we wore,spent money on or how we spent our spare time. Matthew 6:33

Despise a critical spirit: I believe disregarding this instruction has killed many young people spiritually. When they hear us criticizing the pastor, other people in church or other groups who believe differently than we do, we are creating a negative environment and not one of love.  Don't get me wrong. We definitely told our children why we did the things we did and why we didn't do them as some others do them. We based it on scripture and scriptural thinking the best we knew, but we always encouraged them not to be critical of others who felt differently. We also encouraged them to stand firm in scriptural thinking no matter how others responded. James 4:11

Seek the Holy Spirit's guidance: our children saw us praying about decisions and endeavoring to make it a high priority to do what God wanted rather than what we wanted or rather than what others expected of us. We also asked them if they were making decisions to spend some time and pray about it. If they felt the Lord leading for something, we would respect it if it fell within scriptural boundaries. Romans 8:14

Share Christ: we can exemplify having a witness when we are out and about or when we are in discussions with neighbors or friends. We can also take our children out to pass out tracts and do door to door witnessing.  We can start a Bible club with the needy in the area.  We can all work together to raise money for a short-term mission trip. This is an extension of being Kingdom focused. Mark 16:15

All of these things take a lot of time and energy don't they?  But I believe that, even though this is not an exhaustive list, it is enough that our children will start understanding that it takes all of our mind, our heart, and our strength to follow God…and as they see our joy in doing it, they will know it is well worth the effort!

Be careful about saying things like, "this is my house and this is what we're going to do and when you're 18 you can do something different" or "this is the way our church believes so that's why we're going to do it and you can go to a different church when you're older if you want to".  When we say such things, we are making our beliefs sound optional and disposable if disciplines are undesirable to us.  We want to focus on expanding on the good in what we choose to do and on the scriptural basis for it. We also want to have an expectation that they will reap the most out of life if they maintain what they've been taught and even build on it as they get older.

 Each family will be led by the Lord fitting to the needs of the family.  Each child will process things differently and come to the Lord at a different time in their life. We all need to be in tune with the Spirit and sensitive to our relationship with our children and our spouse. I am not trying to set fast and bound rules for families. I am just sharing how the Lord led us and what bore fruit in our case.  I believe we can do much to bring our whole household along to serve the Lord. There is no reason to be overbearing, controlling and carnal in raising our children. This is destructive.   However, we will never regret spending our lives living for the Lord with joy and training our children to do likewise.

Thou Preparest a Table Before Me

An article to encourage you to sit at that table on a daily basis!

The morning sun peeked in my window causing me to awaken.  I stretched my arms as I looked around my room.  Ahhhh…..gratefulness warms my heart as I see my table prepared for me once again.  The faithfulness and generosity of my Lord is beyond measure and understanding.   I slip out of bed and slide into my chair…made exactly to my dimensions and softly padded with perfection.   My Lord slips my robe over my shoulders.  With it’s weight,   I immediately feel the security, the love and the value this royal robe transfers to my inner most being.  I sigh with a relief;  a contentment, and I feel my soul rise to meet the morning with dignity.

The tablecloth radiates a pure white.  Elaborate stitching on the cloth carves out flowers, vines and fruit.  The thread is also pure white dusted with a glitter of gold.   A centerpiece in the midst of the table holds a tall, clear sapphire vase with an assortment of my favorite scented flowers…..hyacinths, lilacs, roses.   The fragrance is heavenly and as I inhale deeply, I feel an anointing and a holy energy flow through my veins.   His presence and His love surround me without and fill me within.

What a table my Lord has spread!   I see Him step near and his beautiful hands reach out to lift the silver carafe.   It is full of the wine of joy and gladness!  I admire the smoothness of the skin of His hands and the gentle manner in which they move as He fills my golden goblet full of the rich drink.   I hardly can hold back my eagerness as I reach forward to drink deeply from the heavy goblet.   As the smooth  liquid glides down my throat, my heart begins to sing praises to my King!  His joy is without measure!

My plate is also of fine gold.   Around the edges are carvings of majestic trees bearing fruit.  Each leaf appears to be intricately formed.   My utensils shine and await the touch of my hands.   My napkin feels like silk as I place it on my lap.    Not only is the wine abundant, but the feast of food begins to come.   As much as I want….as much as I have time for.   Savory stews, tender meats, vegetables with sauces, desserts with delicate and bold flavors.   Each dish meets a need within me.   His strength infuses every fiber of my being.   With His provision, there is no fear of lack.  With his strength, there is no danger of failure.  

His equipping is complete.  My enemies have no power over me.  They have watched with fury and trembling the love, care and empowerment I have received.  Nothing can compete with His provision.   Not only has it been adequate, it has been abundant beyond measure.  

I rest.  I bask.  I do not deserve this table.  Yet, I need it so deeply.  It satisfies the longings of my heart.  It edifies me.   It prepares me for the battle that I face yet ahead.   I scoot back my chair, grab my sword, and step forward with confidence. 

Love Like an Ocean

Many couples say when their first child is born, "How could I possibly love any future children of ours as much as this one??"  Some are even so concerned that they hesitate to have more children because of this fear.   Of course, once we have that 2nd, 3rd, 4th and more children, that fear is eliminated completely!   God has given us the ability to love deeply....and there's no limit to how many people that can touch.

I remember someone asking my mother years ago if she found it hard to love her two adopted children as much as her biological.   My young ears tuned in to hear what she had to say!   She responded without hesitation that there was no difference!    I can now fully understand what my mother was saying.   Ariana has lived with us going on 8 years now, and my love for her is deep as it would be for a biological child.   Yes, I regretted not having more biological children, but having an adopted child is at least as rewarding!   I definitely can't say I would rather have had more biological children than to have been able to adopt two children as we have been!   Or the other way around!   Having more children biologically or adopting.....which is better??   Neither is better.  They're both great!   Pursue both or either one!   You can't lose when loving children and taking them into your home!!  It's God's design.

As an update, we will travel to India on March 12 to visit our four grandchildren there.  Then on the 23rd of March, we will go to China and pick up Xiao Man a couple days later.   We will finish up our paperwork for a week and come home with our new daughter on April 5!   I called her 'Lydia' in the last post, but that was the American name the orphanage gave her.   We have chosen Avigail Hope to be her Litchfield name.   We are very excited!

God has provided in an amazing way this past year!!   The finance has come in in a wonderfully!   We don't even make in one year what this adoption costs and we are having to give very little out of our pocket! Yet,  I've felt like I've had a part time job this past year just filling out all the forms for the adoption and the grants!   We know that the way God has helped with paperwork and the costs that He intends to help us in the years to come as we endeavor to love Avigail like an ocean!!   I have seen in a huge new way that God cares for the orphans and He will go out of His way to advocate for them to have families and homes.  We stepped onto the path of reaching out to orphans through adoption, and we very  quickly had God's winds in our sails as we ventured onto the waters.

We have been skyping every other week with Avi for a number of months now.   I can't tell you how delightful she has been to us!  We sing to her, Don reads her a story, she sings to us and we show her our home.   We're thankful for this time to bond!  This little girl has some major changes coming her way! 

I've started following some groups on FB that are about adopting children with Down syndrome.  Whoa!!!   I've been blown away by the excitement that has come by reading about the joy these children have brought into families!   People should be standing in line to get these children!!   We sit in our homes content with redecorating our living room or watching a ball game!!   What a contrast to choosing to invest in the lives of children who have no home and no loving parents to guide them through life and to teach them about Jesus! 

If I have good internet reception on our trip, I will keep everyone posted with pictures and updates!  Pray for our travels.   I'm not looking forward to the flights, but I know God will help us.

God's got love like an ocean!

Seasons of Life

When most couples are expecting a new baby, they get busy painting a bedroom, buying a crib, preparing a layette and making sure they have a good car seat!   The good news is that we are adding to our family, and here are part of our preparations -

Yep.  We're putting a good safety net on our trampoline, and you can see the chain link fence in the background that Don has also installed.  No cribs or diapers for us!  Going straight to bigger and better things! :-) We've done lots of paperwork, paperwork and then done some of it over several times!  We're excited to announce that this winter, Xiao Man (Lydia) from China will be joining our family!

Isn't she beautiful?  We already feel like we have a daughter across the world (and it isn't Morgan this time!).  In case you're wondering, Ariana is very excited to be a big sister to Lydia, and we know with her strong nurturing ability, she will do a great job.

Our home study is almost done and then our huge stack of paperwork will go to U.S. Immigration and then to the Chinese government before we get final approval!   Lydia was abandoned by her family 4 years ago near the orphanage for reasons we don't know.   The orphanage guesses her age to be around 11 years old.  

Why are we doing this in this season of life?  Because we CAN and because God has put the desire in our hearts.   When it looked like adopting Lydia could be a possibility for us, we were overwhelmed with what a  tremendous privilege it would be to spend the next couple decades parenting this girl. 

Keep praying for us as we proceed through the steps of this adoption.  Yes, it's expensive, but yet it's SO very reasonable when you consider that this is not just a car we're buying or a new boat or a vacation.....this is a delightful and beautiful child with an eternal soul!   How can you ever put a price on that?  God has assured us He will provide, and He has already begun.  Praise the Lord!  What a blessing to be granted the privilege to be on this journey!

Erasing the Evidence

Erasing Evidence

How long does it take to erase evidence of a year of grandchildren in your home? Going from a total of 7 grandchildren throughout the year living with you to none is quite an adjustment!  But what fun it was!! Our home and our hearts were full.  When I skype with these guys (and girls), I can’t believe I had that houseful of extreme cuteness and sweetness in my home!!

Now, a couple months later,  I’m still cleaning up and putting away.   Our attic has a “Street area” and a “Jake’s area” full of things that they couldn’t take with them.  The process is sad because you feel like you’re packing away memories with it.  Although the memories will never completely fade!!    Not only did we have these 7 live with us for awhile, we were able to see our remaining two grandchildren in Ireland!  Even as I speak of the things I miss, I am thankful God has made a way for them to be where He wants them to be!  But these memories are in honor of that wonderful year.

I miss Rees telling me of his outdoor adventures and seeing him build a birdhouse with his dad.  He liked to help me cook and did a good job!

It was amazing to watch Hadassah and Titus grow up so quickly within that first year!   I loved their special smiles they gave me that lit up the room!!

 I loved seeing Misha sitting on her Papa’s lap while he read her stories!

I loved seeing Andrew fishing in the pond with the boys and catching fish for our dinner.  And Andrew pulling the wagon behind the lawn mower full of boys and neighbor kids!

Swimming in the pond was so much more fun to watch and do with all you grandkids around!  I loved watching and counting the bobbing heads!

Justice learned to ride his bike at our house!

Do you think if I would have left the pile of child size shoes/boots by the back door, it would have made it easier??

Rees and Josiah loved building amazing things with blocks, legos…and showing them off to Nana and Papa!

The downstairs bathroom door was covered with fingerprints.   I told Mikah to leave them there and put a sticky note by them saying, “In memory of a visit from Amos and Justice….”  J

Not sure I can survive without finding my toiletry items in my dirty laundry bin in the basement….memories of Justice having fun throwing things down the laundry shoot!

Do I have to pick up EVERY plastic dinosaur and matchbox car I find in the sofa cushions and under the piano??? Who will return them to those places?

Who’s going to read all those children’s books on the shelves??

Did I really have to repaint the basement stairs and cover up all those scuff marks??  And the bathroom floor?

What to do about all these booster seats and carseats???

Where exactly am I supposed to put all these little boy’s stray socks???  Do you want them shipped, Morgan??  If I store them, will you bring the matches back in a couple years and the next ones wear them? J

This big box of school books that arrived after you left…..sitting in the guest room closet.

The swingset sits unused….

Who says, “Yay for Nana!!” at the supper table when I do the cooking??

Where’s the rambunctious boys keeping us up late at night?

What about the hearty greetings and hugs when I come home?   And the “Can I go with you” when I head to work or the store??

My homemade playdoh is dried up…..should I really  make more?

Then there’s their parents!  How can we say how much they were a blessing…the ladies with their cooking shopping and cleaning.   They were great companions around the house!  Andrew and Jake helped with ‘car’ maintenance questions and lended a hand to Don on home maintenance.   Don enjoyed talking theology with the guys.   Both couples were such a blessing to our church family, strengthening the body of Christ!   I had to keep reminding myself that just because they were such a great help here didn’t mean they were supposed to stay!  The same reason they were a great help was the reason why they were called to go!!  Christ in them, the hope of glory.

 I praise the Lord for all the memories of this last year.   Now it’s time for all of us to move on and wrestle with the next set of challenges God lays before us.  No, all the memories won’t be erased.  Some are vibrant and occur to me frequently, and some lay hidden only to arise upon occasion when bumped loose by something I see or hear.  The year was a gift from God and I will treasure it all!

Repairing the Walls

There aren't many Christians in America who would disagree that we have some crumbling walls in our nation.  Morally, there just isn't much left standing.  Our nation's desire for freedom has caused us to both neglect the maintenance of God's walls of protection or to even tear them down.

As I was reading in Nehemiah last week, I couldn't help but be struck with how pertinent some of the points were in that time when the walls of Jerusalem were in disrepair with how our land needs some careful attention.  This text has been used many times in this context and I am not a theologian, but I just wanted to share some things that would be unique to my vantage point.

My nearest vantage point has to do with my city, Defiance, and my home church.  Faith Family Fellowship.   My heart is stirred with how I see God raising repairmen for the walls.   In Nehemiah, God has listed the names of many of the repairman and even the parts of the walls they were working on.  Was that necessary for the meaning of the text?  Not necessarily for me, but it shows me that these people were doing an important work!  They focused on their part of the wall and did what they were called to do.   We have some road construction going on in the main part of Defiance and even some construction work being done on our courthouse, but when I read articles about the work in the paper, I don't see anything like, "John Smith is working on laying the asphalt between such and such streets." or "Harry Eglemeier is applying the shingles on the south side of the courthouse roof."  These construction workers are doing an important work, but it isn't anything like repairing God's city/kingdom.


 The Bible says that the repairman of the walls looked around and saw that the work was great!  this meant there was a lot to do!!  Yet, they each had to not become overwhelmed or get distracted by what was undone elsewhere and just focus on what their assignment was in front of them.  Our nation has need of great repairs!  To look at the whole task can be greatly overwhelming!   But, how is something like a wall repaired?  One block at a time.  Can we not take this back to our nation being repaired one family and one church at a time?  Then the families can take it back to one person at a time?

 Repairing the wall in our culture often means someone being light and truth.  Upholding biblical principles.  Being men and women of integrity and putting God's will first.  Men being true husbands and fathers.  Women being faithful mothers and wives.  People who are uncompromising in keeping sin out of their lifestyles and who speak truth in love.

I remember when I was raising my four older children.  I was homeschooling and we had a mini farm.  It kept me busy, but I was still tempted to do other things.  Money making opportuniites, charity work or church work, furthering my education, socializing.  I did all of these things to a degree, but I kept having to reign myself in and remind myself what was important.....raising and training my children for the Lord.  I couldn't fix the whole world.  I couldn't take in all the foster children I wanted....and so on.   This was my wall to build .....this was my donation to the repair of my country's walls.  It seemed narrow minded at times and very limited in scope.  In a way it was, but now I see how their influences are used in our countries and in other countries around the world.

 Last Sunday, we had a beautiful missions church service followed by a baptism of five of our church members from ages 7-40 something.  My heart was filled with thankfulness for how God was moving in our midst.  We are a small congregation, but we are endeavoring to focus on the assignments that God has given us.   This involves the training/raising of a good number of children/young people and it involves a passion for the world.   Someone shared over the weekend that if we didn't have a passion for the world (the whole wall) then we won't have a passion for our own locale (family/neighbors).

Because of this body's faithfulness, there are wallbuilders being prepared and wallbuilders being sent out by the help and grace of the Lord.   I will name some names.   Norma Beck has a daughter repairing walls in Taiwan and Dick Beck has a daughter repairing walls in Paulding, OH with the youth.   The McIntoshes have a son repairing walls in Fort Wayne, IN and a daughter ready to be sent to work for the Lord in Cincinnati and eventually overseas.  They have a daughter repairing walls in the business world of Defiance, OH.   There are 8 more yet to go out!  The Grahams are preparing wallbuilders with one or two already having their sights on the mission field.  The Jones have been assigned an especially deteriorated section of the wall and we have been amazed  at the speed and beauty of repairs! God is going to send them out.

This small church supports pro life mission work, a work in China, Rev. Schultze's newsletter to several countries and has sent out their own missionary to Thailand already!   Individuals support other mission works around the world.   Most of us are involved ourselves in investing time and finance in the pro-life cause in America.  We are a small congregation, but we are trying to focus on the children we have in our homes, the needs of families in our church, and trying to be a light in our community.   Do we still need some help?  Oh, yes, we really do.  However, I'm encouraged with the focus and the foundational work that's being done.   Because parents are focusing on raising their children well, they will be sent out with strength and purpose.  Praise the Lord!

I guess this blog is an attempt to encourage each of us not to try to fight battles that aren't ours or to throw up our hands in despair, but to look at the task at hand and put our heart into our work and see what God does with the results!   Think about it....what would happen if each family in our country focused on repairing it's walls and sending out properly equipped and prepared laborers for the harvest?   Just one block....one child....one family....one day....at a time.

Concealed Greatness

Concealed Greatness ( a letter to my father)

Some greatness is concealed.  Not to everybody, but to the majority.  God understands that.  He displays His greatness on a daily basis, but yet there is an element of concealment, and most are blind to the wonder of it all.  Yet He is still great and His goodness continues.

There are things that are ‘great’ in my memory of being your daughter.

You are big.   I always took pride in the fact that my daddy was ‘big’.  I loved hearing my peers exclaim, “He’s sooo tall!”  To, me it was so rewarding that they could see right away that you were special.

I loved your hands.  They are big too, and I loved the look of how big and strong they were.  I loved to hold that hand as we were coming and going.  I loved seeing your hand holding a pen and scribbling (yes, scribbling!) out your theological thoughts.   I liked seeing them working on projects around the house for mother or piddling with an engine or motor.

I remember the greatness of being held in your arms after a good spanking!   The spankings were definitely painful and did their work, but the rest I felt in my heart and the bonding I felt with you when being held afterward still warms me.

Bikes.  I remember dragging a junk bike across the Zeman Elementary school yard.  It was humiliating because this school had ritzy kids in it that would sneer at my bike and occasionally make mocking comments.  I think Esther told you what was going on, because it wasn’t long before you surprised me with a brand new cinnamon colored Schwinn ten speed!   I was struck as new things of any kind were a rarity at our house.  I felt loved and cared for.   I kept it for way too many years!!   Then a few years ago, you heard I was struggling keeping my balance on another old bike and you bought me a new ‘granny’ bike with all the bells and whistles!!  I love cruising on my bike and thinking of my Father’s love!

Extremism.  Within the Kingdom, it was ALL for God or not for God at all.  As a first generation Christian, you leaped the boundaries to do things that were quite unusual for one not raised in a Christian home.  You stepped in when the school called for dances or evolutionary science.  You taught us not to date when no one had heard of that before.  You prayed and praised loud, hard and long.  You uprooted your family and went to unfamiliar cities because you felt the call of God to do so.   Messages that were loud and clear to us on being cross cultural and of obedience to the Lord.

Humor.   Your dry sense of humor made me laugh and made me proud.

Time.  You valued us by spending family time and vacations, but we’ve talked about that before.  And then there were the Saturday mornings of tennis when I got older.

Now that I’m an ‘older’ adult, I enjoy these qualities in God.   He is BIG and I’m proud of that and thankful for his protection over us.  His hands are loving and caring.  His discipline is horrible just like yours but it brings good fruit.   He gives me good gifts like you have given me bikes.  He surprises me and blesses me beyond what I deserve.   God is radical and your example helps me accept and understand that.   God makes me laugh and gives me joy.  God cares enough of me to spend time with me and I know that’s true because my earthly Father thought I was valuable enough to do so.

All these lessons are learned and accepted as God intended.  HE  designed families and the father to teach the child about a relationship with God.  I praise the Lord that you have done well!

Thousands know and love you, but the greatness is still concealed to it’s full extent from many of them.  You aren’t a common name in the world …not even in the Christian world.  But, true greatness does not have to be well known to exist.