Thank you so much for the opportunity to share thoughts about Dr. Maxwell. I have spent considerable time thinking about this.
In 1968 when Dr. Maxwell told the story in Bible class about the son who drank the poison and the father's response to him, my life was changed in that moment as I was convicted that was the truth about God. And I knew the response I had been sure the father would have was not true.
Dr. Maxwell meant so much to our family. As I thought about what to write it seemed the best I could do was send a copy of the letter I wrote to Dr. Maxwell on his birthday last year.
Thank you again for the opportunity to share.
Joyce Wilson
July 2009
Dear Dr. Maxwell,
Your birthday was the occasion for your coming to my mind again. You do frequent my mind! And I can sincerely say, “I thank my God for every remembrance of you.” My thank-yous to YOU have been too few and far between. I am eternally grateful for having had the privilege of sitting in your Bible classes at Loma Linda and first discovering that God was NOT the kind of person I had known and was proud that He was. The Spirit convicted my heart that day in your class, I suspect, much like He convicted David through the prophet Nathan. It was immediate and totally unexpected! Over the years, your voice has wafted through our home on a regular, if not a daily, basis (I think our children think of you as a relative!), and God has continued to bless us through your ministry.
How I miss that strong voice of yours in the weekly Sabbath School class. But I listen to older tapes and always find more new things that I missed before. I fantasize about being in heaven in a group with you, and we will share something new we have learned about God recently. Or I will be with God, and He and I will share with each other what we appreciate most about you!
I know you know that Ken went to sleep last April. Ken lived to share the good news about the kind of person our wonderful Friend is. And God is so wonderful, He continues to use the occasion of Ken’s illness and death to speak to many people about Himself. This has been and continues to be an amazing experience for me. I already knew that even the best parts of life would be meaningless without God. But now I have discovered that, because of the kind of person He is, I’m even blessed when I go through a tragedy with Him, and I can praise Him in all things.
Thank you, my dear friend, for all you have done and continue to do for our gracious God.
Joyce Wilson
Michigan