Before February even begins I start planning for spring. The hardest months of the year for me to survive are in winter, because of its bleakness. I could head south to enjoy warmer climes, but the past so many years it has been just as cold there as here. I might go west of the Mississippi to get warmth, but even then there is no guarantee. Neil and I were in Tucson in March a few years ago and it was nasty cold, and it snowed the day we left. So I make plans anticipating spring to help me make it through winter.

I have a brother who lives in Florida. He goes back to our hometown often for holidays but I don’t, and so we do not see each other as much as we’d like. He is a unique character – being the youngest in the family might have added to that. He is a talker and has always been a salesman of one sort or another. He sells himself well, too. I always say of Kevin that he could sell manure to dairy farmers. An amazing talent he has for talk.

He was not a close follower of Jesus when he was younger and a bit too much of a ladies’ man. I prayed for his soul for years and actually was amazed and thrilled when he embraced Jesus as His Savior and started raising his family in the church. As he has grown in his faith that selling part of him is being refined by the Master to tell others about Jesus. What a blessing to all.

The toughest part of sharing our faith with family members is that they know our rotten history. They filter what we say through the remembrances of our worst faults, whether we are 10 years away from that past or 50 years out. If a member of the family is not a Christian, all the rumors and gossip surrounding our youthful errors is often waved like a flag in such a form as, “Don’t follow in the footsteps of your Aunt Amy” or “Don’t be crazy like your Uncle Kevin.” It is hard to shake those youthful foibles.

But despite that, I have asked my brother to visit some of our relatives who are not believers in Jesus. Not that they don’t believe He existed, but they have not believed that He is Lord and invited Him to lead their lives.

The reason I have asked him to go is because one of my sisters indicated to me that a particular relative is close to the end of life. I cannot imagine letting anyone go to hell without at least an explanation of Jesus’ saving grace in our own life. Kevin is definitely the man for the job, but he will have a lot of humility to display in explaining how his past was wrong and he has since asked God for forgiveness that has been granted – hoping they can see his changed life as proof.

So can they see his changed life? Maybe not. He lives thousands of miles away from our hometown, and these relatives see him two or three times a year. Then, they see what they are looking for – who he has always been. He is funny and a storyteller, and that is the Kevin they know. They do not see him often enough to see the growth in Christ in him, the way he cares for his family, his wife, children and grandchildren. They cannot see in a quick glance that his heart is now changed to be obedient to Christ.

Ah, that is the problem we have when speaking to those who knew us when. In their eyes we have not changed because they have not watched the change. A day here or a couple of hours there is not enough to show anyone that our entire life is no longer focused on earthly matters but is now focused on heavenly things.

Because Kevin will not be traveling during the snowy season, we have plenty of time (we hope) to pray for receptive and open hearts to his testimony. We are praying for not only approachable hearts but for the delivery of this joyful news to be taken seriously, and to that end for God to be now preparing those hearts to know that something is lacking in their lives – something major. We are praying that they will accept what they are missing is God Himself.

So, instead of planning a getaway for spring I am praying for specific souls to be touched by the Lord. My heart will be refreshed like the early flowers if this year the Word is taken into my family’s hearts.

Editor’s note: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.