The Faithfulness of God

An Interview with Lawrence and Roberta Foth

Neither Roberta nor Lawrence Foth focuses on the “why” of life events.

“Lots of things happen,” Roberta said, “Some things can be terrible, disastrous experiences, but
I never turn back to ask why it happened.”

Instead, whether consciously or unconsciously, Roberta is guided by one of her favorite Bible
verses, Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him, who have been called according to his purpose.” [NIV]

Roberta was born and raised in Protection, Kansas. Her family was considered “Old
Mennonite,” characterized by the values of faith, family, peace, justice and service to
others. That church is now part of the Mennonite USA Conference.

“I knew at a very young age I wanted to be a teacher,” Roberta said. “My mother was a
teacher and good role model.”

Roberta completed a teaching degree at Friends University, Wichita, Kansas. While in college,
Roberta began dating Lawrence and married in 1962. They felt blessed to find teaching jobs in
the small community of Howard, Kansas, and it was there they started their family. They moved
to Topeka, Kansas in 1965 when Lawrence started a new job in the state’s capital. Roberta ran a
day care for 10 years, going back to teaching when their youngest of two children started
school. She taught home economics for 27 years in the Washburn Rural School District.

Through the years, Roberta has been a faithful and supportive member of the church in
addition to volunteering in countless church and community quilting projects. After retiring, she
worked part time at a quilt shop, teaching classes and helping until the Covid pandemic shut
down many of those activities. She took that as an opportunity to retire completely. She mostly
focuses her love of fabric and needlework on projects at home, though she can be found
teaching a quilting class now and then.

Roberta and Lawrence have been members of the Cornerstone faith community since 1965,
and she said being a member of a church is a choice. People may find spiritual connection in
other ways, but being with friends who share a faith and are all there for a common goal
continues to be a mainstay for both she and Lawrence.

“It’s important to be with the body of believers for support and encouragement,” she said.
Lawrence was born in Henderson, Nebraska, living his first 11 years there until a car accident
took the lives of his mother, father and a sister. Their family of six had been at church, and after
a quick stop at home to change clothes, were on their way to neighbors for lunch when the
accident happened. Understandably, this childhood trauma had a profound impact on his life.

He moved to Hillsboro, Kansas to be raised by his grandparents and the loving and supportive
extended family and friends who embraced and mentored him. Many friends from his youth
are still friends today. As he grew, his faith in God’s steadfastness continued to increase, finding
both peace and belonging in the enduring love of God.

He attended Friends University, gaining a teaching degree in industrial arts, and taught for one
year in Lamont, Kansas. He then took a teaching job in Howard, and Roberta joined him there a
year later when she graduated. Lawrence accepted a teaching job in Topeka in 1965, and three
years later joined the Kansas State Department of Education as a curriculum specialist for
industrial arts.

In 1976, he was chosen as executive director of the Kansas Advisory Council for Vocational
Education. After 11 years in the position, Lawrence said the yen for self-employment called and
he pursued that career until retirement. He has always been a skilled craftsman, and since
retirement has worked part time as an estimator for a local floor covering company. He has also
pursued his other passion: barbershop singing.

A quick Google search reveals a 2012 picture in the Topeka Capital-Journal of Lawrence and
three other men as The Young at Heart quartet, delivering singing valentines as a fundraiser for
the Capitol City Barbershop Chorus and the Topeka Rescue Mission. A highlight of his music
experience, Lawrence said, was singing bass for 27 years with Personal Touch, a gospel quartet
in the church.

Lawrence has served in a variety of church functions, including building committee chair,
several stints as council coordinator, chair of several commissions, and as an elder. Each of
these opportunities, he said, has served to “enrich his spiritual life and grow his confidence.”
One of his favorite verses in the Bible is Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait upon the Lord shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be
weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” KJV

“I don’t think ‘wait on the Lord’ necessarily means waiting, timewise,” Lawrence said. “I think it
means acknowledging and honoring God. It’s part of God’s plan to give us strength to endure,
and he provides for us.”

As his favorite song says, “It is Well with My Soul.”

A seminal event in their lives was a windstorm that destroyed a new house they were building
outside of Topeka. Lawrence had spent considerable time working on the house and had used
his entire vacation pushing to get the house framed. Seeing the storm approach, they sought
refuge at the Winsingers, fellow church members and soon to be neighbors. A drive back up the
hill thirty minutes later revealed that a localized violent windstorm had leveled the house,
scattering wood and other building materials like matchsticks.

“God’s faithfulness was put into immediate action,” he said

After the Saturday evening storm, three Topeka churches, Fairlawn (now Cornerstone
Community Church), Southern Hills and Friends, held abbreviated services the following
morning, then church members helped clear the building sight and recover materials. Within
two weeks, supported by friends and an insurance adjuster who said he had never seen a
building site recover that fast, the Foth’s new house project was back on track. Lawrence said
Jake Ediger was a huge part of this miraculous recovery by postponing other jobs to help
reframe the house.

Few may ever experience such tangible evidence of the love and support of a faith community.
Yet for Lawrence and Roberta, this was not an isolated experience. There have been many
other instances of how “all things work together,” Lawrence said. The most recent example was
selling their home, downsizing and moving to Brewster Place, a retirement community in
Topeka.

“With the help of our awesome family along with Greg and Kristy Hiebert, everything just fell
into place,” Lawrence said.

Both Roberta and Lawrence have lived lives of faithfulness; to the church, to each other and to
their community. Lawrence, like Roberta, is not one to dwell on the past.

“I don’t know how to explain either the blessings or the other things in my life. I’m no better
than anyone else and not as good as some other people,” he said.

But God is faithful.

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Written by Carol Pitts, September 2024