A Story I Loved to Tell

    For several months now, I have been spending considerable time in the past.....sort of.  I have been writing a book.  It is a work of historical fiction which tells a series of stories which take place over a time period of ten years (1839-1849).  The characters are all real people, most of which were part of the immigration of German Lutherans to Missouri in which my great great grandfather's family took part.  The setting is mainly in Perry County, Missouri and St. Louis. The book chronicles many events which were significant in the early years of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
    One of the reasons I decided to write the book is that some of the conditions which caused my ancestors to leave Germany are now occurring in America 175 years later.  If this book ever gets published, I would hope that it would serve to remind people how courageous and faithful these people were.  Their example is certainly worthy for us to follow, and the time has come for people to once again stand firm in their faith without compromising.
    I have found that as I researched the people involved in this story, I got to know these people even though none of them were alive during my lifetime.  I have also learned so much about the historical context of this time period.  It gives me a greater appreciation of my own family's history, and even if the book is never published, it has been a blessing to me to have gone through the process of writing it.