"Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation."  1 Peter 2:11-12

My husband's father was here this week and told us the good news he had been waiting to share.  Through tears he explained how a few months ago he had accepted Jesus as his savior and become a born again Christian.  We rejoiced in this miracle and in awe asked him what had led to his conversion.  He is one of the type of people who are hard to reach.  He is a good person, self sufficient and when my husband had approached him many years ago, he explained himself as a good man, in essence not in need of a savior.

In reply to our question, he explained that a large part of his acceptance of Christ was the example of our family.  You would have to know us to know how floored I was by his response.  We love the Lord, and are trying to follow him, but we are no Dwight and Emily Moody, like Moses we are often stutterers, and struggle to effectively communicate our faith.  The only thing we have going for us is our endurance of a rather difficult missionary location and my husbands dogged determination to help the poor, often with me complaining in the background of why we have to be poor to help them.  But our feeble faith did have the fruit of welcoming a new child into God's kingdom, all glory to God.

I read a quote that inspired me, Tracy Kidder, in his book,  Schoolchildren says this, " Many people find it easy to imagine unseen webs of malevolent conspiracy in the world and they are not always wrong.  But there is also an innocence that conspires to hold humanity together, and it is made of people who can never fully know the good that they have done." 

 I am thankful for my husbands father for sharing with us our part in his decision to follow Jesus.  It is easy to imagine that what we do has no impact.  I am sure that the quiet way many of you are loving your children, doing good to strangers and holding together a marriage is being noticed, though you may never fully know the impact it has made.

Jennifer Pepito
Chapel Editor
ChapelEditor@thehomeschoolmagazine.com