Like many people, I failed to recognize how much God had blessed me in my childhood and youth until I was an adult. My parents were Christians and both were active in our church in various capacities. Our family also included a younger brother, who is now a minister. Having seen and heard of other family situations I have come to recognize and reflect on how blessed I was to have grown up in a Christian home.
My first memory of church was when I was four years old and attending Sunday school. Although we lived 20 miles out in the country, much of which was dirt roads, my parents were always just as determined to get to church as they were to other responsibilities.
When I was 12 years old, I became increasingly convicted of my need to accept Christ as my personal Savior. At age 13, I made a profession of faith and was baptized. I continued to be active in Sunday school and church throughout high school.
After graduating from high school, I attended Oklahoma State University. During my seven years in college, I was a nominal Christian and while I didn’t reject or forfeit my beliefs, I was not actively walking with the Lord and seeking His will for my life. It was while in college that I met Fredda-Lois, who was the daughter of one of my professors. She too was a Christian who had grown up in a strong Christian home.
Immediately following graduation as a veterinarian, I practiced for one year before Fredda-Lois and I were married. Two years later, our son Tom, was born and I was drafted into the Army. It was during this time that our spiritual walk began to get back on track. After being discharged from the Army, we returned to St. Louis County and became active in a church. The first year after we returned to St. Louis, our daughter Beth-Renee was born.
Proverbs 16:9 says,
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
I had planned a course for my life that included serving the Lord on mission trips sometime in the distant future. But in the fall of 1976, the Lord spoke to me in a dream and it was clear that the distant future was NOW. Through Christian Veterinary Missions, the door opened for a short-term mission to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona for our whole family. We thought we would be working with a small church on the reservation, but when we arrived, we found that all of the members were gone for the summer.
We were very discouraged, but continued to pray to be used. The next morning, a Navajo couple came to the trailer in which we were staying and told us that they had been praying for six months for someone to teach the children Vacation Bible School at their Bible Camp and Revival. We had been given all of the materials we needed, including a Bible for each of the 35 Navajo children.
Since that mission trip, the family went on two other trips, then I went to Bolivia and Mongolia alone and finally Fredda-Lois and I went to Mongolia last September. If is my philosophy that as Christians, we must address peoples’ needs as they perceive them for us to have credibility. Therefore, it has been a tremendous blessing to me to have been able to use my profession as a Veterinarian as a means of sharing the Gospel with people on three continents.
My life has certainly not been void of trials. During the late eighties, it became necessary to relocate my practice. For two years, the Lord has tested my patience as the door closed on locations that I thought were adequate. But in the end, He provided much more than I had hoped for or imagined. Ephesians 3:20 was proven true in my life at that time.
Then in the mid-nineties, because of broken relationships with associates, I became depressed. I struggled with depression for several months and under the care of a Christian doctor who prescribed medication. But with the Lord’s help, I emerged with a stronger faith and a more clear understanding of Romans 8:28.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.