Skip to main content

Peace

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

So apparently the world can completely change overnight - I just wish it wasn’t because of fears over a virus.  As stadiums clear and shelves go bare, anxieties and tensions build by the day.  But as the world around me seems to be collapsing, I have peace.  It’s not because of my strength, but because of my faith. 

Even in the darkest times, I carry the promise of Jesus: “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).  Thankfully He didn’t finish His parting words to us with something like “I am with you always, except during crises like Covid-19.”  No, I can be confident He is bigger than this, and so my feet stand secure: “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:25).

For now, Dee and I will do our part and keep our social distancing in that aforementioned house, but we look forward to the day when we are back shaking hands and giving hugs to all the people we love…and don’t be surprised if those hugs last a whole lot longer the next time we see you. :)

Popular posts from this blog

The 25th Wedding Anniversary

“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 18:22)   July 1st marks Dee and my 25 th  wedding anniversary.  How could time have gone so quickly?  It seems like just yesterday Dee was walking down the aisle, and here we are looking back at so many years gone by.     Those years have been filled with not only many mountain-top moments, but also times of hardship and sorrow.  Thankfully, those difficult times have helped bring us only closer.  As time has gone by, we’ve navigated toward doing almost everything together – we’ve found through times of separation, we simply work better together as a team.     The success of that team is not a mystery to us – on day one we put Jesus at the center of our marriage and there He shall always remain.  Oh, the many times He’s been there to right and steady our ship as its sailed thru stormy seas.    I’d be remi...
Read more

Farewell Mike

  “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)   Last September, Dee and I made an extremely difficult decision to switch churches. The toughest part was leaving behind our “small group” made up of people that have become like family.  For decades, biweekly between the months of September and May, we’d get together to worship and pray with and for one another.  The prayers offered up there I firmly believe changed the trajectory of many lives for the better.     Back in 2015, an older gentleman, Mike, joined our group and we hit it off right from the start.  Mike was a prayer warrior – if I knew Mike was praying for us, I just had a deeper peace that whatever the situation was, it was going to work out for the best.  Mike also had the best memory I’ve ever been around – he even came to know my schedule...
Read more

The Christmas Shoebox

  “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.     Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8)   Two Saturdays ago, I had one of those non-stop days.  I got up early and had hours of intense office work to do.  After that, I took a break from that to help Dee get the Christmas decorations up.  After that, I switched to get some urgent outdoor items done before the Minnesota frozen tundra took over for the winter.  I capped the day by switching back to the intense office work for a couple hours.   At about 9 pm I was ready to collapse in a heap when Dee said, “we have to get the Christmas shoeboxes put together so we can take them to church tomorrow”.  After thinking about it for a minute, I reluctantly agreed.   Thankfully, Dee had taken the lead on buying everything for 4 boxes (...
Read more