A Grandfather’s Legacy: Guest Author on Weeva.com

My friend Kim Gorsuch asked me to write a guest post for her website www.weeva.com. I’ve included the first few paragraphs here. There’s a link at the bottom so you can read the rest of the story:
When I think about the people who have shaped my character, I immediately think of my late grandfather, Constantin Marinescu from whom I learned the powerful virtues of “patience” and “perseverance.” My grandfather waited for 50 years for the Americans to come to Romania. A young man during World War II, my grandfather prayed with millions of Romanians that the Americans would come and bring freedom and democracy in Romania. His dreams and hopes were dashed when Roosevelt and Churchill conceded Eastern Europe to Stalin as a result of the Yalta Conference at the beginning of 1944.

Instead of the Americans, the Russians came and brought with them Communism. For five decades, my grandfather continued to pray and hope that the Americans would someday come. My grandfather persevered against much hardship. Much of his land and property were confiscated. My grandfather waited patiently year after year, decade after decade.

Finally, in 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe. The winds of change swept the country of Romania and brought with them the first American missionaries. Some of them had the chance to meet my grandfather who welcomed them with tears of joy and gratitude. Fifty years later, my grandfather’s perseverant and patient prayers were finally answered. The Americans did come. Constantin Marinescu’s dreams came true.

Here I am 20 years later, living in America, practicing the virtues that I learned from my grandfather. You might ask, what is the difference between “patience” and “perseverance?”

Read the rest of the story here