Dissertation Dedication

                         DEDICATION

“To God be the glory”; it is to Him that this endeavor is dedicated as it is all because of Him that this journey has transpired. All the praise and glory are His alone.

I dedicate this to my family. First to my husband, Chris, who has been a constant support, encouragement, sounding board, and a kick in the posterior when needed.  I never could have undertaken such a project without him by my side. My mother, Darlene, has been my prayer warrior and champion; her belief in me has sustained me when the going was almost unbearable. Another continued source of support has been my mother-in-law, Marjory. It was my son, David’s teasing about me not stopping until he could call me “Doctor Mom” that prodded me into going forth on this journey. My daughter, Sarah, and son-in-law, Keith have been steadfast with their encouragement. My brothers, Don, Mel, and Bob have provided the brotherly teasing that helped to keep my spirits lifted. Victoria, my cousin, has been a lifelong inspiration to me as well as an encouragement. A good friend Mary helped to start me on this journey with a strong letter of recommendation and has continued to provide endless support.

To my grandchildren, Caleb, Zavier, Katerina, Caralena, and Faith, may you go after your dreams and never stop believing that you can achieve what you set out to do.

Back to the Basics

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

When sports teams “get in a slump”, they are often directed by their coaches to work on the fundamentals. Life can get so complicated that we are left to wonder which way to turn, how to proceed. I had been dealing with such a time when the Lord pressed upon me to return to the basics. I was struggling with writing even the beginning of part of my dissertation. In my doctorate classes, I used a technique to write the many paper for class. God brought before me of returning to this method. It was a way to “get out of the slump” I was experiencing.

So it is with our walk with the Lord. Sometimes we can get so bogged down in everything that we believe we must do to be “good” Christians that we become discouraged and down. It is then that it is good to return to the basics. The basics are the foundation guiding us in our relationship with the Father and with others. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22: 36-40 in easy to understand words the very basics of what we are to do as Christians. The Pharisees were testing (or so they thought) Jesus, hoping to trip him up with their questions about what they perceived as the law, the Ten Commandments, trying to lay a snare for Him. They wanted to know which was the greatest commandment. Jesus answered with the foundation of all the law, returning to the basics.  “Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

As complicated as life is, I am all about the basics. How about you? Do you need to return to the basics?

Digging deeper: Galatians 5:14; I John 1:9