My wife Mary is amazing. She pulled off a completely surprise 70th birthday party for me in our seminary chapel, which resulted in about 250 people attending from my family, the church, the seminary, Reformation Heritage Books, and additional friends. Photo 1 is of people lined up in one of the hallways waiting to surprise me. My good friend and seminary colleague, Dr. Mark Kelderman, gave an opening word of about ten minutes to me. He was very gracious and warm—I could only wish that I am about half of the things that he said. Then I stammered a few words back to him (photo 2), and thanked everyone for all their love—including my wife and children, and spoke some spontaneous thoughts to the children and the young people who were present, urging them to follow the Lord fully in their lives.
Afterwards, the people formed a long line to wish me well, with my Queen at my side. Several of them told me how the Lord used me in their life—for their conversion or for their spiritual maturation—telling me in some cases things I never knew before. Those comments were in many ways the highlight of the surprise evening for me. I always find it overwhelming and humbling that God would use a sinner like me for other people’s eternal welfare. Soli Deo gloria!
