Faith

I decided to finish February with

my own personal version of Hebrews 11

...not that mine is in anyway inspired, but it is a partial listing of modern heroes of faith whom I know personally and who have inspired and encouraged me in my Christian development. 

It was great fun to write

and I encourage you to consider documenting your own "heroes".

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Faith is the foundation of hope and the proof of God’s unseen presence. For by it, people who I respected as a child taught me about our Lord’s power. Through their testimonies, I learned that the Lord who formed the Universe from nothing is just as powerful today as He was at creation.


By faith my grandparents learned about God’s gift of salvation, accepted that gift and sought to live by Christ’s example in the Word of God.

By faith during the heat of summer, my grandfather would turn off the church air conditioner when the preaching started so he and others could hear the message; by this action he showed me that I should respect the message of a pastor over my personal comfort.

By faith I was taught how to give to others, when funds were tight, my grandparents reached out with loving care and their limited means to help neighbors, showing equal compassion towards the saint as the sinner and with gifts often given in secrecy.

By faith, my parents taught me the importance of tithing on whatever you have, if it is money or livestock or garden produce, God is the giver and I must be a good steward to make sure 10% blesses others.

By faith, at age 5, I prayed for a little brother and by faith, my parents adopted, showing me that real families really love each other, no matter how God brings them together or the challenges they face.

By faith, Grandma Dee set an example of regular church attendance and insisted on attending church even on vacation because we need to learn from and encourage each other in the Lord.

By faith a church member named Velma demonstrated how to tithe on her talents as she made two beautiful new dresses a year for the pastor’s wife.

By faith a piano player named Ms. Morris, arrived every service to play the church piano for over 20 years, she was not discouraged by low attendance or impressed by high attendance, her example is the reason I can gain joy from singing hymns in my car and humming praises in the shower even if God is my only audience.

By faith a country preacher named George Taylor and his wife Hilda were called to serve as local and foreign missionaries, from limited earthly resources they received numerous opportunities to teach and to preach to small and large crowds in remote areas of Missouri, Arkansas and even Haiti.

By faith Hilda taught Sunday school and vacation Bible school so that a child like me could accept Christ as my Savior and begin to grow in knowledge of the Lord.

By faith, lives were shaped by Christian school principal Mr. Wass who set forth a bold vision of Christian service for the children under his leadership, who would become soldiers, firefighters, law enforcement, pastors, pastor’s wives, missionaries, teachers, Sunday school teachers, business owners, Godly parents and so much more.

By faith, Sunday school teacher Jane Meyer taught teenage girls about why Christian husbands were important, how a Christian man will act, and how to pray for our future Christian husband.

By faith, my first supervisors and co-workers Barbara Richardson, Bob Barker & Jim Harriger, who patiently showed me the complexities of Christian service, as they consistently demonstrated compassion and expected accountability, but without either action being dependent on the other.

By faith, families who had adopted children shared with us their struggles, their love and their passion for bringing orphans home. Their bold confidence in God’s plan for their families encouraged and helped sustain us during the toughest times of our first adoption.

By faith, my husband and I added more children to our home, having overcome challenges and having witnessed countless miracles of healing and providence; knowing friends would be fervently praying with us and for us as we stepped out in faith; and based on the testimonies of others, having all confidence that our God is more than sufficient to meet needs yesterday, today and tomorrow.