Psalm 22:4-5

"In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed."

One of the reasons why I can put my trust in the Lord is the history I know that God has never disappointed my forefathers who put their trust in Him. God was trustworthy, still is, and will always be.

As I remember my parents and grandparents, I can only be thankful. My maternal grandmother was born to a relatively affluent family, but was married to a poor man, who was among the first Christians in Korea and traveled to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. She was given a new name by her husband. The name, Kyung Shin, meant Strong Faith. She also learned how to read the Bible and began a long life of devotion not only to her husband and family, but more to the Lord. She was early to rise and late to retire. She borrowed a plot of land from her sister and tilled it to grow crops to support her husband and family. She raised 6 children, not counting those who died in their infancy. She was busy and diligent with her hands till her last day, so that she can worship the Lord, by lending helping hands to others. I still remember her daily prayers in her room. She had her appointed hours with the Lord, when she would raise her voice in prayer. She is a model for me.

My father was born as the second of three sons. In his youth, he was drawn to a town church, because of the church bells and church music. He accepted Christ as a child. In his younger days, he became a very successful businessman, trading merchandise between the colonized Chosun (Korea) and Manchuria. I remember hearing that he was #1 tradesman in Pyongyang. When the Korean War broke out, he gave up all that and fled to the South. He responded to a calling to become a minister. Once he became a minister, he was indeed a totally different person. I remember a couple of anecdotes that exemplify how he was changed. One day, he brought home a bag of apples from the market. My mother was surprised to see him buy anything and bring home, but was then disappointed right away, seeing that many of the apples were rotten and spoiled. When she did not hide her disappointment, my father's response was that the merchant must be able to make a living and dispose of bad apples as well as good ones. My father had taken whatever the merchant was giving him, even if some of the apples were rotten. My father's purchase was not made for the sake of a purchase, but as a way of helping the merchant. Another episode about him involved a very snowy day. As was his custom, he got up very early and left home to go to the church and lead a pre-dawn prayer service. Because of the heavy snow, it was doubtful that anybody would even show up that morning, but he was faithful. Later that morning, when he came home, my grandmother asked him, "Did anybody show up?" "Yes, a couple." Surprised, she asked him again, "Who showed up?" "Jesus was there to pray with me to the Father God." No other man was there, but my father was acting in earnest to serve his master. Appropriately on his tombstone, my mother inscribed a quote from II Timothy 4:7-8:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

My aunt (my mother's older sister) had a very special life. She was the second daughter of the 6 siblings. She was not sent to school, but managed to learn to read Korean, which came in handy for her, since she was such a vociferous reader of the Bible from the beginning to the end. When she was still a child, she died. Before burial, her body was placed in a large pot in the kitchen, while the rest of the family and some church members were engaged in a worship service prior to the burial. Then she crawled out of the pot and told the most amazing story to all who were gathered there. She rose and ascended to meet an old man, who asked her, "What did you eat down there?" She responded, "Corn bread." He then gave her a white bread and told her to go back down and come back later. That is how she came back to life. She was sent away in marriage at 16, had two children, and soon became widowed because her husband died of an allergic/anaphylactic reaction to a medication. She then lived a life, that I can only compare to that of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:36-37), praying and abiding by the word of God until her last day on earth at the age of 84. She was clean and pure and full of the word of God, probably memorizing more verses than anyone else I know.

I am grateful that I have exemplars of faith in my own family. God has clearly shown what a faith life can be. Just as my predecessors have trusted in the Lord, I too put my trust in Him. I know God is faithful. I pray that I will be as well.