The content displayed below is for educational and archival purposes only.Unless stated otherwise, content is © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
You may be able to find the original on wol.jw.org
Video above © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
00:00:02 When a person makes a sacrifice, 00:00:04 they give up something 00:00:06 for something that they consider 00:00:07 is of higher value. 00:00:09 What kind of a price tag can you put 00:00:12 on your child’s love for Jehovah? 00:00:16 What kind of a price tag can you put 00:00:18 on serving Jehovah whole-souled as a family? 00:00:23 When I found out that we were going to have a family, 00:00:27 it was overwhelming for me. 00:00:29 When you come into the truth— 00:00:32 We weren’t Witnesses when I was a child. 00:00:35 Sometimes you’re exposed to things that leave you with baggage, 00:00:40 leave you unsure of yourself. 00:00:42 You need constant reassurance that you’re going to be OK, 00:00:47 that you can take care of any situation that comes along. 00:00:51 My dad—he gave me all I needed. 00:00:54 He loved me so much. 00:00:56 I would take my mother’s knitting yarn, 00:00:58 and I would tie it to his door handle after he went to sleep. 00:01:02 And I would run it across the hall to my bedroom 00:01:04 and tie it to my big toe 00:01:06 so that when he opened his door in the morning, 00:01:08 I would wake up and I could be with him. 00:01:10 That love that I had for my dad 00:01:14 —I wanted them to love Jehovah that much. 00:01:17 I wanted a string tied around their hearts right to Jehovah 00:01:21 so that he was the one motivating them 00:01:24 and he was the one waking them up spiritually every day. 00:01:28 I loved to teach the children things, 00:01:32 and I would do it at any available moment. 00:01:35 And then, of course, at night, as a family 00:01:37 (usually on our bed), we would read our Bible together. 00:01:40 It was the glue that kept us tied to Jehovah 00:01:45 and kept us tied to each other. 00:01:48 In Judges 7, Gideon said: 00:01:51 “Watch me and do . . . what I do.” 00:01:54 So I knew that if we wanted the children to live the truth, 00:02:00 we had to live it with them. 00:02:03 It couldn’t be something that we just taught them. 00:02:06 We had to live our life of service to Jehovah with them. 00:02:12 Jesus said that obviously we ‘can’t slave for two masters.’ 00:02:17 And I’ve tried to do that and, believe me, it does not work. 00:02:21 Like any father, I wanted to have a home for my family. 00:02:26 My profession was building houses, 00:02:29 but that cost me my pioneering. 00:02:32 And so I decided 00:02:35 I had to quit building houses. 00:02:37 So I did. 00:02:38 I started to do remodel jobs. 00:02:40 And we looked for a place that we could afford 00:02:43 that would sustain us in the full-time service, 00:02:46 and Jehovah provided exactly what we needed. 00:02:51 One of the highlights of raising the children 00:02:54 was the annual visits to unassigned territory. 00:02:57 The success in the ministry was phenomenal. 00:03:01 So we decided as a family 00:03:03 to take on the challenge of learning Spanish. 00:03:07 We had a large Spanish-speaking population 00:03:10 in our territory and in the surrounding territories, 00:03:13 and there was no group or congregation to help them. 00:03:18 When we would go out of the country to preach, we would often stay 00:03:23 with family members of our Bible students 00:03:25 or our brothers and sisters in these countries, 00:03:28 in some very humble surroundings, 00:03:31 and we took advantage 00:03:33 of the hospitality that they offered us 00:03:35 because we wanted to live the culture with them. 00:03:40 It just opened our eyes to a world that we never knew existed. 00:03:47 Our family was able to progress 00:03:52 and flourish spiritually 00:03:54 because of a concentrated effort by Joren and me. 00:03:58 She’s been there to fill in all of the cracks. 00:04:01 He always made it so easy to love him, 00:04:07 to love the children, and to really focus on spiritual things. 00:04:11 When we pray to Jehovah, 00:04:13 thinking about our family being able to serve him like this, 00:04:17 we just say thank you. 00:04:20 We just try in some way to express how deeply we feel 00:04:25 about this privilege that we have 00:04:27 to be with Kaarsten and Kjersti and Andrea and Dhimo. 00:04:32 We don’t deserve 00:04:34 any of these blessings from Jehovah, 00:04:36 but somehow he’s blessed our efforts, 00:04:41 and he’s given us an opportunity to smile 00:04:44 and reflect on all of the things that he’s done for us. 00:04:48 And what can we do to repay Jehovah 00:04:51 but just keep going, keep trying, 00:04:54 and keep moving forward until we’re on the other side?
00:00:02 When a person makes a sacrifice, 00:00:04 they give up something 00:00:06 for something that they consider 00:00:07 is of higher value. 00:00:09 What kind of a price tag can you put 00:00:12 on your child’s love for Jehovah? 00:00:16 What kind of a price tag can you put 00:00:18 on serving Jehovah whole-souled as a family? 00:00:23 When I found out that we were going to have a family, 00:00:27 it was overwhelming for me. 00:00:29 When you come into the truth— 00:00:32 We weren’t Witnesses when I was a child. 00:00:35 Sometimes you’re exposed to things that leave you with baggage, 00:00:40 leave you unsure of yourself. 00:00:42 You need constant reassurance that you’re going to be OK, 00:00:47 that you can take care of any situation that comes along. 00:00:51 My dad—he gave me all I needed. 00:00:54 He loved me so much. 00:00:56 I would take my mother’s knitting yarn, 00:00:58 and I would tie it to his door handle after he went to sleep. 00:01:02 And I would run it across the hall to my bedroom 00:01:04 and tie it to my big toe 00:01:06 so that when he opened his door in the morning, 00:01:08 I would wake up and I could be with him. 00:01:10 That love that I had for my dad 00:01:14 —I wanted them to love Jehovah that much. 00:01:17 I wanted a string tied around their hearts right to Jehovah 00:01:21 so that he was the one motivating them 00:01:24 and he was the one waking them up spiritually every day. 00:01:28 I loved to teach the children things, 00:01:32 and I would do it at any available moment. 00:01:35 And then, of course, at night, as a family 00:01:37 (usually on our bed), we would read our Bible together. 00:01:40 It was the glue that kept us tied to Jehovah 00:01:45 and kept us tied to each other. 00:01:48 In Judges 7, Gideon said: 00:01:51 “Watch me and do . . . what I do.” 00:01:54 So I knew that if we wanted the children to live the truth, 00:02:00 we had to live it with them. 00:02:03 It couldn’t be something that we just taught them. 00:02:06 We had to live our life of service to Jehovah with them. 00:02:12 Jesus said that obviously we ‘can’t slave for two masters.’ 00:02:17 And I’ve tried to do that and, believe me, it does not work. 00:02:21 Like any father, I wanted to have a home for my family. 00:02:26 My profession was building houses, 00:02:29 but that cost me my pioneering. 00:02:32 And so I decided 00:02:35 I had to quit building houses. 00:02:37 So I did. 00:02:38 I started to do remodel jobs. 00:02:40 And we looked for a place that we could afford 00:02:43 that would sustain us in the full-time service, 00:02:46 and Jehovah provided exactly what we needed. 00:02:51 One of the highlights of raising the children 00:02:54 was the annual visits to unassigned territory. 00:02:57 The success in the ministry was phenomenal. 00:03:01 So we decided as a family 00:03:03 to take on the challenge of learning Spanish. 00:03:07 We had a large Spanish-speaking population 00:03:10 in our territory and in the surrounding territories, 00:03:13 and there was no group or congregation to help them. 00:03:18 When we would go out of the country to preach, we would often stay 00:03:23 with family members of our Bible students 00:03:25 or our brothers and sisters in these countries, 00:03:28 in some very humble surroundings, 00:03:31 and we took advantage 00:03:33 of the hospitality that they offered us 00:03:35 because we wanted to live the culture with them. 00:03:40 It just opened our eyes to a world that we never knew existed. 00:03:47 Our family was able to progress 00:03:52 and flourish spiritually 00:03:54 because of a concentrated effort by Joren and me. 00:03:58 She’s been there to fill in all of the cracks. 00:04:01 He always made it so easy to love him, 00:04:07 to love the children, and to really focus on spiritual things. 00:04:11 When we pray to Jehovah, 00:04:13 thinking about our family being able to serve him like this, 00:04:17 we just say thank you. 00:04:20 We just try in some way to express how deeply we feel 00:04:25 about this privilege that we have 00:04:27 to be with Kaarsten and Kjersti and Andrea and Dhimo. 00:04:32 We don’t deserve 00:04:34 any of these blessings from Jehovah, 00:04:36 but somehow he’s blessed our efforts, 00:04:41 and he’s given us an opportunity to smile 00:04:44 and reflect on all of the things that he’s done for us. 00:04:48 And what can we do to repay Jehovah 00:04:51 but just keep going, keep trying, 00:04:54 and keep moving forward until we’re on the other side?
