Still Waters

Once again I’m caught in the rush of a new school year and finding myself saying, “Wait!  We aren’t done with summer yet, are we?!”                       Summer was entirely too short and my wish-list too long to get everything in this year.  God was gracious to give me July and early August to work on garden, yard, and home things, and get my school planning well under way.  Good thing, too—my dear Mom had a stroke in August and things have seemed topsy-turvy since then.  (Second family stroke this year—enough already!) It’s hard to be hundreds of miles away from family anyway, but when there’s a crisis it really hurts.  You pray and stay connected and trust that the Lord is working a testimony of  grace.  You jump when the phone rings, and shed tears of thankfulness at progress reports.  It’s ever a walk of faith, this life, isn’t it? But life goes on and we’ve settled into our new school year.  SweetPea is a junior this year, so with only a couple more years to go, we’re try

                    (This is a re-post of something I wrote in response to the 9-11 tragedy that rocked our country.  It seems appropriate not only to share it again on the anniversary of that tragic day, but also to bring encouragement to many of us who are struggling with the multiplied challenges of life.)   Why Do I Have Hope? I have hope because... ...God loves me: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:38-39) ...I am chosen: ...but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.    (I Peter 2:9) ...when the world seems to have gone crazy, He is still God: In this world you will have trou