Denise was asked: When making decisions for your younger children, what helped you to trust that you were making the best and most godly choices you could make?

In John 10:4 and 5, Jesus said, “My sheep know My voice and a stranger they won’t follow.” I just had to trust the Lord that He was going to lead me. 

When we were in Jelgava, Latvia, we wanted to get the boys into school, and so we found a Christian Latvian school. Well, the boys didn’t speak Latvian and they were just learning to speak Russian, but the school administration said, “We have English-speaking teachers, and we will make sure that your children understand. We promise!”

Every day for the next two months, the boys rode a bus clear across town to go to this school. One day when Rick was out of town ministering, Philip came home, and he was crying.

I said, “Philip, what’s wrong?”

He said, “Mom, the teacher called me stupid, and he said it was because I didn’t understand what he was saying.”

You can imagine how I felt. I had just spent two months of my children’s time and education and it was like a complete waste. I just felt horrible, I felt like I was a horrible mother, and I felt horrible for my children.

I was on the floor in my bedroom crying out to the Lord; He didn’t give me a solution right then, but He gave me His presence. Later, He impressed upon me that we needed to get our boys immersed in the Russian culture, so we found a Russian-speaking teacher. God led me to make that change in their education. I trusted the voice of my Shepherd — and I trusted Him to lead me.