And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.
(1 Thessalonians 3.12 NRSV)

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One day Chuck Swindoll found a book on his shelf that had once belonged to his mother. As he was paging through it he recalled some special memories of her. She had died some twenty years before. She had written notes in the margins of this book little knowing the impression her words would make on her son twenty years later.At the end of the book Chuck's mother had written these words, "Finished reading this May 8, 1958." That started a flood of memories for Chuck Swindoll. He began thinking where he was and what he was doing in May 1958. The month his mother finished reading this book he was a Marine stationed on a tiny island in the South Pacific. That very month he had written in his journal, "The Lord has convinced me that I am to be in His service. I will begin to make plans to prepare for a lifetime of ministry." Amazingly, at the same time his mother was finishing reading her book.
"As I looked back over the pages, I found one reference after another to her prayers for me as I was away." Charles writes. His mother was concerned for his spiritual welfare and for God's best in his life.
That afternoon years after his mother had died Charles was sitting in his study reading his mother's book and recalling those precious memories. "There I sat," he writes, "thanking God anew for my mother's prayers, [for] my pilgrimage and especially [for] His presence. Faithfully, graciously, quietly He had led me and helped me and blessed me. I bowed my head and thanked Him for His sustaining grace...and I wept with gratitude."