In Appreciation<br > "wish to thank my wife， Margery， for 25 years of Christian love. Her<br > I patience， encouragement， and helpful "suggestions" transformed a<br > .vague book idea into reality. Thanks also to my daughters， lessica<br > and lanna， for showing forbearance while subtly letting me know they also<br > contributed to the writing process--"Dad， are you on the computer.. ~ again?"<br > I wish to thank my parents， Richard and Yvonne， for working diligently<br > to send my two sisters and me to church school. They sacrificed much to give<br > us a Christian education， as they thought it worth the effort. Fortunately， be-<br > fore my father died on September 29， 1999， 1 was able to share the final man-<br > uscript of this book with him and personally thank him for the sacrifices both<br > he and my mother gladly faced to see that we children were introduced to<br > lesus at a young age.<br > To the members of the ]acksonville Seventh-day Adventist Church ir<br > lacksonville， North Carolina， I also say thank you. Your encouragement kepl<br > me on track during periods when other pressures seemed to crowd out spiri<br > tual progress and left me discouraged. Though we no longer share Sabbatt<br > school lessons on Saturday mornings， you remain in my thoughts am<br > prayers. Thanks to head elder Doc Baysden (now deceased)， head deacol<br > Harry Rose， Frank Mattson， Pastor Mario Munoz， and all the rest， for gettin<br > me on my feet as a teacher. "Let s talk about lesus!"<br > Thank you， Ellen G. White. For me， her prophetic words are inspire<br > and timeless. Mrs. White knew lesus in a way few of us have ever been pri~<br > ileged to know Him. She richly deserves， but would never have sought， tl"<br > honor of truly bringing Christ s life and times alive. The Desire of Ages is ce<br > tainly required reading for anyone wishing to know more about the Wo~<br > made flesh. Her last words， "1 know in whom I have believed，" testify to h<br > lifelong faith in Jesus. Would that we all might emulate a faith such as hers<br > Most important， 1 wish to thank our Lord for the assistance He gave<br >i as 1 prayerfully struggled at times to complete this humble rendering of I-<br >~; story. Without His love and sacrifice， there would be no story to tell. Becau<br > lesus did come and die for each of us， we have the opportunity to echo at 1;<br > the words of Paul， who said: "I have fought the good fight， I have finished t<br >i race， I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of rib<br > teousness， which the Lord， the righteous fudge， will award to me on tl<br > day--and not only to me， but also to all who have longed for his appearir<br > (2 Tim. 4:7， 8， NIV). Amen. Even so， come， Lord lesus!<br >!<br >