"This is the great lesson of history: it is ordinary people of authentic Christian faith who are ultimately the ones who best able to shape the outcome of human events--not kings and princes, not masters and tyrants. It is laborers and workmen, cousins and acquaintances that upend the expectations of the brilliant and the glamorous, the expert and the meticulous. It is plain folks, simple people, who literally change the course of history--because they are the stuff of which history is made. They are the ones who make the world go round. For, as G.K. Chesterton said, 'The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.'" ~ George Grant
"As I studied Jackson’s relationships, I witnessed how God providentially weaves friendships and influences in and out of our lives, how He molds men and times to accomplish His will and divine plan. These influences often come unexpectedly and through means scoffed at by secular culture. The frantic pace of modern American society often obscures what is truly important in life: relationships. As Solomon reminds us, “The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools” (Ecclesiastes 9:17). It is in the quiet shadows of life, far removed from the frenzied pace, where God often speaks to us through the counsel and influence of friends." ~ from "Stonewall Jackson - The Black Man's Friend", page 18.