I just celebrated a birthday. One of those milestone birthdays that gets lots of attention. You know, as I look back over these years, I can see one thing that stands out so clearly over all the many years and through the many places I’ve been – the faithfulness of God. I think back to a time when as a child of eight years old, I realized I was lost and needed a Savior, and I committed my heart to Jesus Christ.
Just two years after receiving Christ I experienced God calling me to a future in missions. At the time I really didn’t even know anything about missionaries except that they shared the Gospel with others. I dedicated my life to God’s calling at the age of ten.
As I grew up, I went back and forth during my teenage years about where I wanted to go or how I would serve. Through it all I knew that God was in control of my life and had called me to serve Him. When it was time to go off to college I decided to major in elementary education because I felt it would help me to prepare for missions work in another country.
Well, along the way I met a handsome young man. We fell in love and met all of our goals to serve in the mission field after we married. It was exciting in those days – going off to a new adventure. And yet when we got to Africa, to the field where the Lord had taken us, things were not always so positive.
There were personal struggles, challenges with being away from family and friends, and the political situation did not always seem stable. Through it all God was faithful to us without fail. Everything we needed, whether it be food or clothes for our new born, was provided to use even though it had seemed impossible.
When it was time to move on from Africa we returned to the States and then headed back to the mission field as we went to France. Throughout all of of years and through the many trials that we have faced, God has always been faithful.
God brought us back to the States, and we have been in Hanover over fifteen years. And in those fifteen years, God has been just as faithful on this side of the ocean as He was on the other side. He is good, my friend. He meets every need.
I think of the song that says, “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.” So as I celebrated this birthday, I can look back and say, “Great is Thy faithfulness!
Dr. Ann Shorb is a counselor in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She provides professional counseling for a wide variety of issues including depression, marital issues, family issues, stress, ADHD, anxiety, grief and much more.
