PRAY for

Children & Grandchildren

Hello Ted,

OUR BACKGROUNDS- Let's compare Tudi's background vs. my background.

Tudi is from MICHIGAN; I am from NORTH DAKOTA

Tudi was one of five- the middle child; I was an only child

Tudi’s parents were married and lived in Michigan for 73 years; I never met my father and was born and raised until 11 by my grandparents in North Dakota

Tudi had an upbringing in the Lutheran church (Missouri Synod); My grandmother was active in the Methodist church- I vaguely remember getting to watch cartoons in Sunday School.

SPIRITUAL DETAILS of my background-

From NORTH DAKOTA to SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

When I went to live with my mother and stepfather at age 11 in Southern California they asked me if I wanted to go to church- ”No” I said, “I don’t believe in God.”

I developed a love of sports and was good at anything involving a ball; I was a totally self focused atheist. My self confidence was in sports but not in group interaction. I did well in school but was terrified (big time!) of standing before any group.

FAST FORWARD- Parks and Recreation

As a part time job I got involved in Park and Recreation work and developed a love for working with youth involving all sports. I was drawn to boys who seemed to lack self confidence and came from broken homes like mine. I was recognized for my "good work" with youth; but unfortunately I missed out on giving Godly council to young people.

FASTER FORWARD FURTHER- Tudi & our girls

After college graduation I met Tudi (she and her girlfriends came to SCal to find their “pot of gold”.) After a few dates she invited me to church but it meant nothing to me until after I claimed Jesus as my Savior in the Army.

About a year after I became a believer we got married. We began working with youth in the church.

Two years later we had Trisha; 2.5 years after that we had Trinda. We continued working with high school aged youth after we had our own children!

Both Tudi and I were fully committed to raising our children God’s way

The following were verses we followed that guided us in our efforts to be Godly parents



PLEASE READ and PRAY THESE VERSES for yourselves and your involvement with your children and grandchildren

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:5-9‬ ‭

As parents Tudi and I have always taken seriously our role as Mother and Father.

We diligently did our best to follow God’s instruction in the verses in Deuteronomy; breaking them down in application and PRAYER

1-Love the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength- we have found our love of the Lord has increased as we PRAY this essential instruction

2-These instructions are then on our hearts and we PRAY- we desire that our children experience the same

3-We talked about the Lord while walking, at home, at night and upon awakening. We tried to make faith in Christ natural and real- not forced, with diligent heartfelt PRAYER

Choosing SCHOOLS for our children-

Positively reinforced what we taught them at home

Though not for everyone, we were fortunate enough to be able to send our girls to Christian Schools (Scottsdale Christian Academy in Phoenix, Mt Vernon Christian Academy in Atlanta and Samford University in Birmingham). We felt this was the best decision for our family, but we know God has a unique plan for each family!

We are so proud of both Trisha and Trinda

OUR GIRLS have both experienced the ups and downs of life but have allowed the Lord to use trials in their lives. They are both very dedicated to prayer , church and the Word through some marriage challenges including raising our 6 wonderful GRANDCHILDREN.

OUR GRANDCHILDREN

Tudi and I pray for our children and GRANDCHILDREN every morning. We pray specifically for what’s on each of their hearts based upon their requests during our weekly Cousins Fellowship (and what we hear through the grapevine).

Our 6 grandchildren- 3 girls 3 boys- are now 20-26!!! Seemingly every week there are prayer requests related to jobs/work.

Tudi and I often pray for our grandchildren these verses-

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭

As some of our grandchildren struggle with what they believe, I remind them of some verses that helped seal my belief in God.

John 3:16

“God so loved the world (Ted) that He gave His one and only Son that whoever (Ted) believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” 

Psalm 53:1

“Only fools (Ted) say in their hearts,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;

not one of them does good!”

John 14:6

Jesus said “I am the Way, Truth and the Life, no one (Ted) comes to the Father except through Me”

1 John 1:9

“If we (Ted) confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Being an Atheist is like a dead end street

I never want to forget how I struggled as an atheist, trying to make life make sense without God. When I finally discovered the PEACE THAT SURPASSES UNDERSTANDING through Jesus my personal Lord and Savior, I was never the same.

I often remind my children & grandchildren of how “I painted myself into a corner as an atheist”; at that point I had two options: to look up to discover God or suffer personal destruction. Only by God’s grace alone He turned my gaze toward Him. I became a believer in Jesus, my Savior.

We desire to show patience with those we love just as God demonstrates patience with us. We love them so deeply we will always encourage them to find and focus on Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life! Again Holy Spirit inspired patience is the key. As with me personally being born again in Christ can’t be forced

This is OUR UNCEASING PRAYER for our children and grandchildren. I also pray for those who read this- that they will be encouraged to continue praying for their children and/or grandchildren!

Ted

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:5-9‬ ‭

P.S. As a reminder, here are the Weekly Prayer Topics:

Week 1- Pray Scripture to pray more wisely and draw closer to God 

Week 2- Pray "Your will be done" (when you really just want to say "no!")

Weeks 3 & 4- Pray “HELP “ when faced with major health and/or financial issues

Week 5- Prayer In the Business World- Don’t waste 80% of your Life

Week 6- Pray for your children/grandchildren (this week!)

Week 7- Pray for your church to be a house of prayer /outreach

Week 8- Pray with your spouse daily

Week 9- Pray via zoom with and for your family 

Week 10-Pray for God’s open doors to witness

Week 11- Pray often for all leaders, locally and nationally