The Postscript tells what I have been doing since I retired in from teaching in 2005. The Twenty-five Touches is a summary of a book I wrote about the people who led me to Jesus.
Postscript
The year Mercy and Mahryah went to high school was the last year of my teaching career. Even though I used a wheelchair to get around the classroom more easily, multiple sclerosis sapped my energy to such a low level, I just couldn't give students my best effort, and all students deserve a teacher's best effort. I went to bed every school night at 7:30, but was still constantly plagued by fatigue. From January to May, I took off two days every month to conserve energy. It helped, but by March, I knew I was finished and filed my retirement papers.
After spending the summer relaxing, I started working as a tutor at the Huntington Learning Center in Parker in October, 2005. It keeps me in touch with kids and I feel I still have something to offer them.The Lord has richly blessed me by giving me the ability to teach and communicate. I pray that I have used my gifts wisely. Amen! Praise the Lord!
The Twenty-five Touches
Jesus knows a doubter when He sees one. He had one in His own midst named Thomas. In order to bring people to faith, I believe that Jesus places Believers in the paths of the unsaved. This is not an original theory. I have asked several pastors about the origin of this theory, and the closest explanation comes from Pastor John Snyder, Senior Pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Parker, Colorado. Pastor John says that Believers sow seeds of faith, but it's up to each individual to grow and harvest those seeds. A good reference point in the Bible is 1 John 3:9.
I have written a book about the touches Jesus placed in my life. A quick summary follows:
1) My mother, Isabelle Jeanette Girouard LaPre. After a miserable thirty-five year marriage to my father, Herbert Paul LaPre, my mother never once lost faith in Jesus. I didn't see it at the time, but this was a perfect picture of faith for me to follow. (1949-1971).
2) My friend, Frankie. After my mother's death, my Catholic faith began to wobble. Frankie told me that if my mother believed in Jesus, there was no doubt that she was in heaven. I started to argue with him, but stopped. His words stayed with me for over twenty years. (March, 1971).
3&4) Two Italian priests in Kambia, Sierra Leone, West Africa (1971-1973). These two devoted priests quietly went about doing God's work and never once tried to evangelize me, which I appreciated. Father Luigi was the principal of Kolenten Secondary School, while Father Gabriel installed water purification systems to give people in outlying villages fresh drinking water. Their devotion left a lasting impression on me.
5&6) Dianna and Alanna were two colleagues at my first teaching job at Blue Ridge Middle School, in Purcellville, Virginia (1978-1980). Their invitation to sing Christmas carols in a hay wagon showed me the simple camaraderie and good cheer of Christians.
7) Dick was a co-worker when I worked in the oil & gas business (1981). One night after work, Dick asked me if he could
share his testimony with me. I had no idea what he was talking about, but agreed to listen anyway. As I listened, I was impressed at how one's faith could motivate a person so much. In my twenty-one years as a Catholic, no one ever did that for me. Or maybe I just wasn't listening.
8&9) Ed and John, were two fellow basketball coaches and teachers at Columbia Middle School in Aurora, Colorado (1982-2005). I worked as their assistant coach for girls' basketball for about four years. I was impressed how they interacted with players and all students. I didn't realize that their Christian faith was the foundation for this interaction.
10) My cousin Bobby LaPre and I went to a Yankee/Red Sox game in 1986. I was very uncomfortable when Bobby spent the ninety minute car ride talking about Jesus. Our fathers were both staunch Catholics and we were raised in that faith. I couldn't understand how my Uncle Ollie had finally seen
the Light of Jesus just before he died the previous year. I didn't argue with Bobby, but he gave me something to think about driving back to Colorado.
11) Cindy Croissant LaPre, my future wife. Cindy's unwavering faith in Jesus and her
lifestyle witness was a real tonic for me after so many years of doubt and confusion about God. (1986 to present).
12-18) Cindy's family, her parents Willie and June Croissant and her two brothers and their wives, Randy and Carol and Tim and Sheila. They were another example of unwavering faith despite the obstacles life threw in front of them. (1986 to present. Willie died in 1989).
19) Pastor Steve Oeffling, currently associate pastor at Christ Community Church in Greeley, Colorado. Pastor Steve broke the gospel down in such an understandable and meaningful way that even an unchurched heathen such as myself could follow it. (1989 to present).
20) Janelle, student, 1990-1991. After losing my temper in class, the next day Janelle handed me a piece of paper with a Bible verse written on it. It was Proverbs 25:28:
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. I was touched that Janelle would take the time and effort to share something with me that was dear to heart. I went home and underlined it in the Bible Cindy's parents gave us for a wedding present.
21&22) Pastor Ron Sheveland and Pastor Kyle Helminck of Faith Baptist Church, Parker, Colorado (1991-1995). Like Pastor Steve in Greeley, these men made the Bible come alive for me. I never thought such a formerly incomprehensible tome could be made so relevant and understandable.
23) Alyssa, student (1991-1992). Alyssa's story was told previously in this volume in
A Change of Scenery.
In February, 1992, the Light of Jesus came alive for me and bathed me in its glow. That story is told earlier in this volume in
The Prodigal Returns.
24) Promise Keepers (1993-1996, 1998, and 2002). This organization showed me the importance of being the spiritual leader in one's home. It demonstrated the value of prayer and faith in one's family life.
25) Noelle LaPre (1994 to present). I wrote about my daughter earlier in this volume.
I'm sure there are dozens of more people who impacted me in making the spiritual decision to follow Jesus, but these are the ones I remember most clearly. I am eternally grateful. Praise the Lord!