“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:19)

Dear Grandchildren,

In my last letter, I told you that if I learned English before September, I could study at Muskingum College in Ohio. I also told you how the rest of the choir members did not like my being favored. They were angry that I could stay in the United States while they had to leave. They showed their displeasure by not doing anything that they were supposed to do. When we were scheduled to sing at a certain time, they would intentionally arrive late. It distressed Dr. Jaroshevich, because he felt that they wanted to hurt him.

One Sabbath day we were supposed to sing at the New Concord United Presbyterian Church. The rest of the choir intentionally took a long time to get there. Dr. Jaroshevich asked me to tell them to please hurry. As I was walking toward them, they walked even slower, and finally stopped and said, “Let’s stop and wait and see what she has to say to us.” When I said that we were late and that Dr. Jaroshevich was upset because we were late, they replied: “Go tell Dr. Jaroshevich to send us an airplane, and then we will fly in a hurry.”

I felt alone. I felt so bad that they were hurting Dr. Jaroshevich. Later, when the time came for them to leave, they were sad about this and cried when they asked me to forgive them. We had several more stops before the tour was over. After we sang in New Concord, we went to sing in Canton, Ohio, where Rev. and Mrs. Ed McKune lived. Rev. McKune arranged many singing engagements for us in the Canton area. We were there the whole week. People took us to stay in their homes, and I happened to stay with the McKunes. They heard of my being accepted to college.

One day they asked me if I would like to come and live with them during the summer before college. Mrs. McKune used to teach English at Cedarville College, and Rev. McKune had been one of her pupils. She wanted to help me study the English language so that I might be better prepared for college. They never had children of their own, but they liked helping young people get ahead in the world.

I told the McKunes that I wanted to first talk to Dr. Jaroshevich about this. But in reality, I was afraid to say yes. I had spent all my growing-up years in the orphanage where everything was regimented like one’s life is in the army. I got up by the bell, went to school by the sound of the bell ringing, and ate my meals and went to bed by the bell. Whatever there was to be done, I first listened for the sound of the bell to tell me to go ahead. I was afraid that I might not know how to behave in a real family situation, and especially in an American home, very different from life in Poland.

When I told Dr. Jaroshevich what the McKunes proposed, he was very happy. Then he told me of something that made me see how the Lord was directing my life in every detail. He said that when I was a small girl in the orphanage, he happened to visit that place. He played with the girls for a while. Before leaving, he gave our director some money and told her, “Take care of Nadzia while she is small, and when she grows up, I will take care of her.” He told me, “When you came to try out for the choir at the convention, I recognized you immediately. That’s why I wanted you to become a member of this choir so much, not just because you were a good singer.”

—Grandma Nadzia

Questions

*Look up the word “Sovereign”—or ask your parents what it means.

*In the orphanage a bell controlled every detail of Nadzia’s life. Later she relied on God instead. Will you do the same?

*Now read the memory verse. Write down some ways that God helps and guides you.