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.

Only a few short years later I felt a clear calling from God to work towards a lifetime of service as a missionary. I hardly knew anything about missions at the time, except that missionaries told others about Jesus and the Bible. At that time I was 10 years old and I turned my life over to the Lord.

Like most teenagers, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be or what I wanted to do when I grew up. However, one thing that I did always know was that God was watching out for me and that he had a plan for my life.

At college I met a great guy and we fell in love. We decided to serve in the mission field after we were married. That was an exciting time in our lives, going off to do something totally new and uncertain. Despite the excitement that we had, things in Africa were often quite challenging.

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.

After leaving Africa we came back to the U.S. and then headed off to France. Through all of the situations that we have been in and all the challenges that were involved, God has always taken care of us and supplied all of our needs.

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.

It reminds me of the song lyrics, “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.” As I look back on my life and see the things that He has done for me an my family I can certainly 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.

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