I am so thankful for the family relationships that God has blessed me with in my life over the years. I also thankful for the various roles of relationship I have enjoyed with so many different family members and friends and associates along my life journey. I appreciate the life I had growing up in the home of my parents with my siblings and the start they gave us as we moved into adulthood. Our childhood was wonderfully influenced by both sets of our grandparents who we enjoyed all the way into my upper teen years and on my dad’s side into my early adult years. My sister was just here for a visit, and we were blessed to be with my brother and his family last May on our family vacation. It is a blessing to have stayed connected with my siblings and their spouses over the years and to be an uncle to their children. I am very thankful for the life God has given me as a husband to my wife and the life we have enjoyed together for 39 years now. Teri and I have been blessed to parent 7 children and influence 20 others along their journey as foster parents. However, Teri and I are very grateful for the privilege of the role of grandparent. We have nine grandchildren and number ten is due any day. Pastor Steve and Sister Sharon just returned from seeing two of their eight grandchildren on their trip to Texas, and they have two more arriving next spring. God used my grandparents to influence my life in many wonderful ways, and I hope that I am successful in doing the same. Each of us should strive to be a godly influence in the lives of those near to us. We need to point those in our circle of influence to know the Lord personally and to benefit from His Word in their lives. This is what happened in the life of young Timothy that helped prepare him to be a big help to the Apostle Paul in the Lord’s work with him and his team. We read in II Timothy 1:5, as the Lord inspired the Apostle Paul to record a reminder to Timothy, about how God used his mother and his grandmother and we need to follow this example with those in our lives that we influence as well.