GCV Blog

Grace Church of the Valley blog.

 

Sing Praise
by Dianne Obert

Joining Grace of the Valley Church on November 17, 2013 was an Amazing God Day.

"Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

to the Lord and His strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced."

Psalm 105: 1-5

I will do my best to share the amazing things God did that day.

First, you must know that my children are adopted and know first hand what it means to not have a family. Having a "family" means the world to them. My daughter, Tasha, has always valued the Body of Christ more than any of us can understand. At the age of four, she asked me, "Mom, you adopted me and we are family, but, what about the family of God?" Can we become members of our church and be a part of that family? With her deep understanding of what belonging to a church family means, our family joined Grace Community Church in Visalia.

My daddy, Arlyn Obert, died on Sunday, November 17, 1996. My parents had divorced and I had been the primary caretaker of my dad as he fought Leukemia. He passed away on a Sunday night. My dad and I were very close and I was a Daddy's girl. I look so much like my Daddy....

On Sunday, November 17, 2013, the anniversary of my father's death, I became a member of the Body of Christ at Grace of the Valley.
I represented our family as we joined Grace of the Valley and the church body. I can't begin to describe the deep feelings of love, contentment, and peace that overcame our family as we joined the church. As I relived each hour of the Sunday my dad had passed away seventeen years ago, I was publicly joining Grace of the Valley as a leader of my family and my cousins, Scott and Nerissa Nielsen, my father's relatives, were in the congregation. My daughter and son know first hand what it means to not have a mom, dad, or a family to call their own. But on November, 17, 2013, our family got bigger as you welcomed us into the Body at Grace of the Valley.

We are eternally grateful.

Thank you,
Dianne, Tasha, and Isaac Obert