sions. I liked that very much and right from the very beginning of our –at that time- small family, I carried this longing and only aim in my heart to have a heavenly marriage and love and a home full of heavenly harmony. I was concerned however to observe some kind of “threshold metamorphosis” everywhere, often also in Christian circles: fine to the outside, nothing on the inside. Right after getting home, the affectionate tone turns into a despiteful one, friendly manners turn into bad behavior, diligence into laziness, love into dispute, order into chaos, etc. However, it is easier said than done to show a good example in all these things, especially with a family growing as fast as ours did. (We had 5 children after 7 years of marriage and 9 after 13 years …) I was and still am so grateful for Ivo’s practically oriented sermons and teachings which always speak into the actual situation. He preached about 1,300 sermons during the years 1985 to 2011. If we add the sermons of the oratories, mission journeys and this year’s sermons (2012), it’s about 1,500 (not including the external invitations to churches or seminars where Ivo ministered four to five days a month before the OCG was founded)! All the lessons, books, brochures, basical training courses and seminars – everything has derived directly from practice, teaching us countless precious laws of life. Lessons like “Rest on every side”1, “Marriage and Family Series” and “Child Education”2 have always been of great help to our growing family. If I only think of the one in raising children: to never wait until you have a fully grown tree with a thick trunk and strong roots in front of you, but to identify every bad plant when it’s only a seed and to pull it out early! 1 DVD “Educate with a Vision”, Brochure “Rest on every side” 2 MP3-CD “Marriage/Family/Child Education” 9
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