THIRTY!!!! - Happy Birthday, Niel!

Niel, I pray this coming year is special and that the Lord leads you and helps you through this next stage in your life. I admire you for your trust, and above all for the desire you have to be a better man!

You apologized once to me for not being some big shot. - Tsk, tsk, tsk... Niel, you are what God made you, and though you could say you're a work in progress, we all are. - I just pray I will have enough grace to bow my head in yieldedness as you have, when it's my turn.

When I read this, I think of you: "It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph, and who at worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows his place shall never be with those timid cold souls who know neither victory nor defeat. --Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)"

I love you! - You're my favoritest "big" brother! Happy Birthday! XX