One of the life defining moments that influenced the direction I ultimately chose to follow in life was, as an adolescent, observing my Uncle Merlin kneeling in prayer beside his bed. I was walking from the bathroom to my cousin Jeri’s bedroom during a sleepover. I had never seen a man kneel. I instinctively knew he was praying even though I had never seen such a thing.
I didn’t know that dads knew how to kneel, let alone pray. Actually, it was so unusual that it struck me as pretty funny. Hilarious in fact. With a wide grin, I whispered to my cousin “I saw your father praying.”
Thank-you Uncle Merlin for a private lesson – taught thru your kind and gentle example of Christlike living. You changed my life, and because you changed my life, many years later, you altered the lives of my family, and of my future family.
The truth is, if I was to be completely honest – I wasn’t that good of an influence on my cousins. I sometimes got them into trouble because they were too nice to shut me down, and I often pushed things a little too far even for their comfort (though I did make them laugh). I think that sometimes my Aunt Jolayne must have dreaded me coming over, although years later she adamantly denied it. She certainly never ever made me feel like she did; she let Jeri keep inviting me, and she always made me feel welcome.
Thank-you Aunt Jolayne for YOUR private lessons – taught thru your kind and gentle example of Christlike living. You changed my life too. I owe a lot to you and Uncle Merlin. And I will love you forever for what you both did for me. And through me, for my family, and later for my children’s family.
I sometimes wonder where my life would have led me had I not had this moment, and a myriad of other seemingly insignificant little moments like it that added up. I wonder where I would be now, and by extension where my family would be had my uncle not been transferred to the same military base we lived on when I was a young girl. . . . I told my aunt many years later that I believed they moved up there for ME. That quite literally, Heavenly Father loved me enough and trusted them enough to not let him down – to orchestrate that event with all it entailed because of the sheer weight of influence that would come of it. I told her that I was told by my mom she was unhappy about moving up there to what she then considered the edge of civilization, but that I was convinced it was for ME. Not at the time of course, but with adult eyes as I reflected upon all that came of it. I thanked her for being patient with the direction God led them, and for letting Him prevail.
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We must never, ever, ever underestimate the power of good example and charity. Trust in God. Let Him Prevail. See every moment as a gift with which to do something ordinarily good. Take every opportunity to be kind – even to those you don’t know are observing. And because we’re human, and we can’t possibly always be good – be quick to apologize, and turn it around. Share the gospel by showing and doing. THAT is true religion.
Warmly,
Cindy Suelzle
