Shaping of a Servant: The Odyssey of a Family

In his The Odyssey of a Family series, the author reflects on the mystery of how God plans far ahead, arranging details and events that blend to create, shape, prepare, call, empower, and guide very ordinary human beings for his unique purposes.

In his first book, Pilgrims Searching for a Home, the author recounts the impressive story of his grandparents, Jacob, and Justina Friesen, who with their family escaped the horrors of revolution and civil war in Russia to settle in western Canada, where they raised their fourteen children through the trauma of the Great Depression and the war that followed.

In this second book, Shaping of a Servant, the author tells his own story. He begins biographically describing the story of his parents and the mystery of how God brought them together from two distinctly different countries and cultures. He marvels how they found romance in their courtship and marriage under severely stringent conditions. He chronicles their struggles in establishing a loving home into which he was born. From there, the author transitions into an autobiographical mode reviewing his growing years, highlighting the unique circumstances and adventures that shaped him.

This is the story of a young man growing in self-awareness, struggling with a sense of divine call. It leads to a romance in which he finds his significant other. Together they form a team, finding direction and committing themselves to lives of service in God's kingdom.