Last night was a very humbling experience for me.

God places skills within each of us to use to help each of us to grow and to help His kingdom. I believe each of us are placed someplace to use and grow those skills by God. 2016 had its ups and downs. The downs included one of my favorite uncles passing away just prior to a Toastmasters Spring Conference where I had stepped up to create and run the power point slide packs. The next and biggest one was when my mother turned for the worst during the Toastmaster Awards banquet where I was running the slide pack in August of 2016. Last night was a reminder of those times.

Another reminder is “The Gift of Life” foundation is having a banquet tonight for those family’s which donated something from their loved one to help another life.

God works in strange ways at time to honor us and pick us back up. Last night is one of those times.

Each and every one of you were a part of helping me move forward from those low points. To that end, each and every one of you had a part in me being able use my God given skills and to receive from Toastmasters International District 25 “District Director’s Service Award” for 2016-2017.

For that – THANK YOU!

Daniel Baumgartner.