Simply Famous

The first upload to YouTube occurred two decades ago on April 23, 2005. Over the course of 20 years, many have vaulted to fame (however fleeting) via cute, dangerous, creative, or inspiring videos. Are you a YouTube star?

For some, fame is a sought-after goal or a means to an end. For others, limelight comes with actions taken at critical moments. But what if you neither desire to be president someday nor see yourself in an emergency landing a plane on the Hudson River? Is it obscurity for you?

What if you simply engaged with what the Holy Spirit has lain before you? What then?

Oma Jacobs Van Gelderen was a wife, mother, and grandmother who had few worldly advantages but found an abundance of God’s grace through prayer. Among the people she valued most, her family, she was famous for her prayer life for she could get answers from God.

She prayed for her son, Wayne Van Gelderen, Sr., and saw him enter the ministry. She prayed for his family and saw the next generation honor and serve the Lord Jesus. Oma received because she knew what it was to ask in the Lord’s will, and her inspiring story led Janet Clark Shay to write the book, The Prayer That Makes a Difference.

If you have a mother, know a mother, or have any reason at all to celebrate Mother’s Day, please consider picking up a copy of this book. Keepsakes may remind someone of your love for some time, but alas, the flowers, food, and candy gifts will pass all too quickly. Unlike traditional gifts, however, the message of this little book has the potential to touch and change lives forever. It might even make Mom famous.