 In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing number of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. -A. W. Tozer You probably assumed, when you read those first few words, that I was talking about our own current universal darkness…it certainly could apply.
I’m not sure why but I am drawn to the old WWII movies, the history and the upheaval of that time is disturbing, yet enthralling; not only the horror of the events but of the courage of those who not only survived but later thrived. While most of us may not remember much about WWII, who could forget the violence and unrest of the 1960s? I remember waking early in the morning and overhearing my mom and dad discuss the need to possibly build a fall-out shelter. We had air-raid drills in our elementary school and had to hide under our desks. The message of the church I attended in the early 70s was that Russia was going to invade America at any moment. I believe if we would do a walkthrough of history, we would see each and every generation face what seems to be insurmountable and debilitating circumstances. The circumstances may vary but the answer is always the same…stand strong, do not waiver, trust Him and maintain, as Tozer encourages, a growing hunger after God Himself. So many quote the scripture from Esther that says she was born for her time and her specific assignment to intercede for her nation. Taken to what I believe is a reliable interpretation I trust we can rightly assign this to each and every one of us that pursue after God’s purposes without fear or intimidation. We are here, at this time in history, to fulfill what God has given to us as our assignments. Every generation must speak to their generation the hope that we have in Christ…it’s our message…it’s our purpose! -Susan
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 Angela, Penelope, & Chad 2020 was a year of joy and sorrow for us as we know it was for so many others. Susan contracted COVID-19 in June of this year. Thankfully, she had minimal symptoms and recovered quickly. Angela and I were excited to get the news that we would be having another baby. We were heartbroken recently to find out that our little baby boy had passed away in a late miscarriage. We are still working through our grief, but we trust in the Lord. I cannot begin to explain why things happen the way they do. The only conclusion I can ever come to is that God is in control, and He is good. I know that His word is the only foundation upon which I can stand. Job 1:10 says, “If we take happiness from God’s hand, must we not take sorrow too?” The late Henri Nouwen wrote: To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God. Thankfulness in times of sorrow is much easier said than done to be sure. But I know of no other place to run than the arms of our Savior and no other place to rest than under the shadow of His wings.
-Chad |
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