I needed a special Friend who could understand, comfort, and direct my life better than I could do it myself. I was very unhappy and my natural possessions could not help me. That desire was never granted, nor would it have given me real joy had it been.īut one time I was in trouble. Although there was much satisfaction in possessing some of these things and in using them for my pleasure, they never brought real joy, so my desires increased. When I finally got a tricycle I discovered that it only made me happy for a very short while.Īll through life I wanted a lot of things: a bicycle, a wagon, a new suit, a typewriter, a piano, and finally an automobile. When I was a wee boy I wanted a tricycle. I’ll be seeing you soon! (Have you heard the latest news about conditions in the Middle East?) Until then, let us together continue praying for lost souls as we spread the message of God’s love and provision for redemption. I thank God for the rich spiritual legacy he left, and am determined to do the same for my children. But he chose to make the best of it, and even in his twilight years touched many lives. He really didn’t like being there and especially resented the cost. This ability served him well during the last two years of his life when he was confined to a nursing home due to his failing health. But my father and his brothers would break up their days with rotten tomato fights and then cool off by jumping into the farm pond fully clothed during the hot, humid summers after a full day’s work. During the years following the Great Depression there were many dreary days of very hard work on the farm. He had a keen sense of humor and often had us all laughing.Īn important survival skill which my father acquired was the ability to make the best of the situation in which he found himself. In spite of the demands upon his time, my father somehow found time to play with us boys. Occasionally my father would come home from his job at Doubleday and announce that his boss required that he put in an extra three hours yet that evening. We seldom went on family vacations, but now and then would take a short pleasure drive and stop for some ice cream cones. My father attempted to carefully balance his time between his job in the typesetting department at Doubleday, the ministry of Bible Helps, being a husband and father of two boys, and church work. He cherished these dreams, and they helped him follow what he felt was the Lord’s plan for his life. The second dream was of the rapture of the saints in which he dreamed that he and his wife (my mother) were suddenly ascending towards Heaven. The moving masses of people behind them pushed them off the edge of the chasm into the eternal destruction of hell-fire. As the people became aware that they were doomed for destruction, they would cry out for help, but it was too late. The first was a vivid dream about people falling into Hell similar to the way the water in the Niagara River runs over the Niagara Falls. Also, my father had two dreams or visions which he never forgot. He worked in a secular setting for approximately twenty-three years, which provided insight into the priorities held by those who were not Christians. He lived through the Great Depression and the years following when the family thought their farm could be taken by the sheriff at any time. Many conservative church leaders passed through the Lehigh house, and my father heard many conversations about spiritual things.Īlong with being raised in a home where faith in God was very real, there were several other significant factors which shaped my father’s life. He felt a special call of God upon his life, and earnestly sought God’s will in following that call. He went to be with the Lord on July 14, 2006.Įarly in his life, my father came to the realization that he would not grow up like other boys. He was born Septeminto a godly home and grew up in a conservative church congregation. My father was a man of vision, faithfulness, and humility. Robert followed in his father’s footsteps as editor of Bible Helps. Several of these are included below, preceeded by a poem he wrote, and an essay by his son, Robert. Amos was the first editor of Bible Helps, and wrote a number of short essays for publication in its early years.
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