We are a ministry rooted in the reformed faith that offers resources on grief, autism, alcoholism, terminal illness and life crises, as well as hope and help for daily life.

My Dad was a pastor in full-time ministry rehabilitating alcoholics. When I was 36, married for 14 years with four children (12, 10, 8, and 7), he left my mother for one of his employees. The scandal was incredible and I was completely devastated. My Dad was my hero. My children were shattered –especially our oldest. He wrote in a report at school that he wished he had been a better grandson so that maybe this would not have happened.

Dad was asked to leave his position, which also meant giving up my parent’s home, car, and belongings. My mother was left with nothing. Unable to accept what was happening, I wrote to the headquarters of the ministry begging for help for my father, and my mother. My letter landed on the desk of Henry Gariepy. He responded there was nothing he could do. My father’s actions had set in motion consequences that no one could alter.

But, Henry Gariepy was so touched by the agony he sensed in my letter that he took it upon himself to join me in my journey into suffering. He wrote me several times. He prayed for me. He called me. He established and maintained contact with my father while everyone else was turning away from him. He sent me the book he had written on meditations from the book of Job. At a pivotal point in my spiritual journey, he encouraged me to be diligent (to persevere), to face the dilemma. I didn’t like any of the choices I had. He encouraged me to hold fast to what I knew was truth – God’s Word. I just wanted someone to fix it. But God’s plan didn’t call for it to be fixed.

My life was forever changed by my father’s sinful choice. It is still painful today. I was unbolted from this world, and God carried me as I clung to Him day by day until He could set me back down to walk. My sisters in Christ were the ones who helped ease the pain and kept my focus on what I could diligently do – keeping my own marriage pleasing to God, training my children to know, love, and fear God, and seeking to learn more about Him. They helped me one day at a time to remember God’s promises.

In Henry Gariepy’s book, PORTRAITS OF PERSEVERANCE, he writes about astronaut James Irwin sharing that as he walked on the moon the thought came to him, “Man walking on the moon, this is the greatest event of human history.” And then it was he heard an inner voice speak to his heart, “I did something even greater than that – I walked the earth.” Colonel Irwin testifies that he returned from the moon not to be a celebrity but a servant of the Lord of the universe who came and walked the earth in the person of Jesus Christ. As Job declared...“He will stand upon the earth” –the supreme event in history and Job’s great hope. It enabled him to endure and maintain his faith amidst the fiercest assaults on him. We live not with a great anticipation but with a great realization...our Redeemer has come to earth, and our lives can never again be the same! Because Christ came and lives and reigns we can face tomorrow. Through the power of His resurrection we can say that with even greater confidence than did Job.

My Diligence Dilemma brought healing and hope as I persevered. Often we face choices  where any alternative is unpleasant...but our diligence, our constant, careful effort to glorify our Redeemer brings hope and peace.