We moved to our first farm at Myrtle Creek, Oregon in 1960 after Dad had retired from the Navy. Our place was 13 miles from town with the last couple of miles being gravel so we were glad to discover a little Sunday School only six miles from our house, it was a really old schoolhouse and was called Cedar Grove. There was no Pastor and no regular service. Parents and kids would gather together in one big room with rows of old wooden desks with each row of desks getting a little bit bigger than the previous row. We would sing about three hymns together, sing happy birthday to anyone who had a birthday and then break up in graded groups with different parents teaching each group of kids. Then after about 30 minutes of Sunday School, we would gather back together for fellowship, talk for a while as we ate some snacks, and then went home.

It sounds rather bland and not very sensational but in spite of the simple nature of our weekly gathering every significant spiritual commitment that I ever made in my life, I made at Cedar Grove Sunday School with teachers named Mrs Woodruff, Mrs Brown, and Mr Jones. It was there that I trusted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. It was there as a 13-year-old boy that I made a goal to read the Bible through in one year which I did and have done every year since. It was there that I declared Jesus as Lord, master, and King of my life, and that I would do whatever His will was for my life. It was the devotion to Christ of that small handful of parents that had significant influence in the shaping of my character that resulted in me becoming a pastor and teaching many other people the godly principles in the Bible.

I am the product of many different people’s influence in my life, and as I think back on so many events and people it is amazing how orchestrated my life has been, how all the little pieces fit together perfectly, it is as if there was a person planning every detail of my life and pulling the strings, as it were, to cause all the events and circumstances of my life to work together for good. I am very thankful to that good God who loved me, created me, saved me, and molded me like clay into the image of His Son.