Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

Several years ago, I told her… You’re the friend I didn’t know I needed .  After moving to a new area once again and having to leave friends behind that meant so much, I had shielded myself from getting close to anyone else. Yet, here I was meeting someone who had faced struggles time after time and through it all, never let their faith waiver. This was someone I wanted to know. She was pretty much home bound at the time, still recovering from jaw reconstruction surgery but enjoyed visits and the occasional day of piddling, when she felt up to it. She eventually gained her strength and was back into the swing of playing the piano, taking vacations, and helping others any time she saw a need. Unfortunately, that burst of energy didn’t last too long before she was facing a repeat surgery. It was a difficult recovery and it brought along new challenges. After a while, she settled into her “new normal” and went right back to touching the lives of those around her. She loved to cook for...

I, like most, find some things difficult to understand. Why do some people prosper while others struggle? Why do some have to suffer while others have no problems? In a world full of why’s, we must learn that we were not made to understand all things. We like to use Romans 8:28... All things work together for the good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose , as a way to think that as long as we live a Christian life that we will not have struggles. We sometimes wonder how they could ever lead to anything good. But we often forget that God's definition of good may not be the same as ours. In 1873, Dora Greenwell wrote a poem titled  Redemption . It was later adapted into the song we know now as My Savior My God.   The first line of both the poem and the song gives the best explanation this side of heaven that we may find… We are not skilled to understand . It's only when we come to the realization that we were not made to understand the things of this...

I went to the local bank and opened a new account the other day. As the teller showed me the list of different options I could choose from, I was somewhat surprised when she pointed out the free Fifty Plus Account. Was it true? I was now old enough to qualify for special benefits. Why didn't she question if I actually met the criteria? These questions still ran through my mind the next morning as I was adding some All Bran to my Cheerios, lol. I guess it was true after all.     Days and years sneak up on us. I have many memories that feel as if they were just yesterday but then realize they were actually decades ago. Moses knew that time slips away, as he references in his Psalm 90 prayer titled From Everlasting to Everlasting . He  focuses on the greatness of God, our weakness as humans, and our need for His grace to meet our daily needs. It reminds us to seek wisdom each day and use it to glorify God. My prayer this week is to remember that time is short and even ...

  Yesterday evening, I reached into the hope chest built by my Dad to grab a pair of shoes I hadn't worn in a while. I hurriedly slipped them on, hopped in the car, and took off to church. I wasn't there long before I realized I had something inside my shoe. My first thought was a pebble and the old saying about walking in someone else's moccasins with a pebble in them. A few steps later, I realized it was more than just a pebble and as soon as I was able to get my hands free, it would have to be tended to. As I slipped my shoe off, I was surprised to find not a pebble but a pair of surgical tweezers. You may wonder as I did, how in the world would they end up in my shoe. I later realized that we had stored a box of Rusty's medical supplies on top of the very hope chest that holds all of my shoes. That's the only thing that even halfway makes sense.  As I recalled the incident when I removed the tweezers from my pocket later that night, I was reminded of the old Cla...