“Dear Bobby and Shepherd’s Grove Church,
About 30 years ago when your Grandfather Dr. Schuller was the minister of Crystal Cathedral, someone gave me tapes he had made about overcoming hard times. My eighth son Chris, was born with a birth defect in his left leg called Pseudo Arthrosis. A form of bone disease in his left leg just above the ankle. We were told he could fracture his leg very easily and that sometimes babies are born with the leg already fractured by kicking in the woumb. When he was seven months old he gave a kick and his lef was fractured. From there many Dr. appointments and finally nine years he had an amputation just above the ankle. All this time I was listening to the tapes of Dr. Schuller. One especially helped me as it was about a couple that had four children and then expecting another baby, they prayed for a healthy baby, but the baby was born a mongolism child. The father was an Engineer and they moved from Southern California to Northern California and started a home for Mongolism children. This inspired me to keep trusting God and this let me know I could deal with anything that came my way. I listened to the tape over and over and also watched Dr. Schuller every week. At the age of fourteen Chris developed cancer in his leg. He was a volunteer for Easter Seals and they planned aa Dream Trip for him thgouh the Make A Wish Ministry in Middletown, Ohio. They asked Chris where he wanted to go and he wanted to go to Los Angeles, CA. They planned for him to go to Crystal Cathedral along with a trip to see the Dodgers, and the Wheel of Fortune and then a stop in Phoenix, AZ, to see his two brothers there. By this time he was sixteen. He was getting very weak and when we got home to Hamilton, OH, he had to go on oxygen. The day we got home was June 1st and he went to Heaven on June 26th, 1987. He was certainly ready to go and had me reading the Bible to him the night he had to go into the Hospital for the last time. He was a great son and spoke of things that I had never told him about. Especially when we went to my grandparents’ house after they had moved out and we went to the badement steps and he looked down them and said “Paul fell down the steps.” He was only about five years old at the time. I immediately remembered my grandmother getting so upset when this happened. We started youth fund in his name at our church (as he was very active in the youth program) for children who could not afford to go to church camp.
I enjoy your sermons Bobby, and hope to come visit Shepherds rove someday.
Lots of Love and Prayers,
Catherine N.”
Catherine N.