Michael & Diana Welchert

Today my wife goes back to work after 25 years of working at home training our children.

In 1988, after three years of trying to have children, we discovered we had a 20% combined chance of having children. Diana had one blocked and one twisted fallopian tube and I had a low sperm count, but like I told the doctor, it only takes one.

One day in my office I was doing some background study on the book of Ephesians. It just so happened that Diana came into the office and so I asked her to look up her name in one of my books on the meaning of biblical names. As you may know the great temple in Ephesus was named after the goddess, Diana. She looked it up and said, “my name means, great mother.” In that moment I had an Abrahamic surge of faith. He was called a father of many before he had any children and here I am with my wife facing the crisis of not being able to have children and we learned that her name means great mother. Faith was the assurance of things hoped for in that very moment.

Today we have five children, have lost three in early term pregnancies and Diana has prayed for many couples who have been where we were and has seen God answer their prayer for children. Our story is told in the book by Debra Evans, Blessed Events.

We made a decision very early in our relationship that Diana would not continue working outside of the home once we had children. We believed that there was nothing in this life worth more than the children God would give us. We believed that the best way to train up a godly generation was for them to be trained at home by their mother.

For 25 years now Diana has been at home and she has sacrificed her life for each of her children and for all of us. She returns to work today, not in her other dream job as a fulltime counselor and life coach, but as an assistant school teacher for special needs children. We are so very proud of her courageous decision to get back into the arena and to live out another chapter of her whole-hearted authentic life.

Over the past 25 years we have lived without two incomes…which translates to garage sale clothes, used furniture, one car for most of our life, a lack of many material possessions, and very few opportunities for the children to have lessons…piano, dance, gymnastics, athletics, etc…it was a simple life, with full parental involvement.

However, the most remarkable thing about Diana is that she always maintained her gorgeous beauty, her sense of worth and value as a woman, wife, mother a part from work or salary or things, she grew through the sacrifices of living without, she volunteered to serve others and became a role model and mother to many young women and mothers.

In a tribute to her on our 25th anniversary a few years ago, I wrote, “By the genuine kindness of your loving and gentle ways you have brought out the best in me. You have used your quota of grace to work with my broken life and mend me into a much better man than when you found me. The dawn of your presence in my life has truly been an act of divine favor. You are an every moment reminder of how good God has been to me. Your practice of patience and your relentless work and heart of serving our family is a simple and yet extravagant demonstration of the worth and value that you give to each one of us. You seem to do it so effortlessly and perfectly. Your desire to grow in and follow God over the years has been my most shining trophy in life. I have adored watching you cultivate your spirit and seeing the radiance of God come through you in counseling, mentoring, being a wife and mother. You have certainly built a heritage that has greatly influenced many others across our times and travels. You are a woman that many are proud to call friend. You have given me the best life I could have ever had. We have not had much of the things that we have wished for, but I have never wished for another wife. After Eve and Mary you certainly were created to be a “great mother”. By your unbroken diligence you have put the best into our children. It is and always has been you that made me, our children and our family great. I admire and adore you in every way dream-able…”

What makes this day especially sad is that for the past 2 ½ years Diana and I have been together every day on our mission here in Aurora, CO. I miss her terribly, but I am hopeful that soon we will be back together working side by side.

Diana, if your life was played out as an athletic contest they would call what you have done a dynasty. Multiple championships have been won in our hearts, home and in the lives of many others because you never gave up on your dream of being a great mother!

Love Michael and All our Children!