THE FIRMLY HELD HAND

A few days ago I firmly held the hand of my little four year old granddaughter Susanna as we walked up and down stone steps viewing a more than 5000 year old temple near Malta. Her little feet slipped a time or two, but because I was holding her hand she did not fall; in fact she barely noticed the slip that could have landed her painfully on her little bottom. I immediately thought of the parallel situation in our lives where God wants to firmly hold our hand throughout life, but generally we resist and choose independence—inevitable falls result.

As I studied for this week’s Ladies Bible Study my heart fastened on this beautiful verse. “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;” (Psalms 37:23, ESV) Oh that we would love holding His hand.

Sally Helland plans to lead the study time this Thursday morning. Plan to be there and participate in the discussion oh Psalm 37; you will be blessed.

Mark and I look forward to seeing all of you Sunday morning. It will be delightful to be back to our church family.

AWESOME

This was the incredible view from our hotel room in Zermat, Switzerland on Saturday and Sunday. While in the area we heard a lot of information about this amazing mountain and witnessed hundreds people flock there to be awed. My thoughts went to these verses in Psalms that I have been studying for our ladies Bible study. “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host....let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” Psalm 33:6, 8b. Yes, the Matterhorn should put us in awe of God.

This Thursday morning Hannah Clark will be leading the ladies Bible study on chapter 4 of our study guide. This will be a study of Psalm 33. Don’t forget we have childcare available for little ones and we are looking forward to having everyone come and participate in the discussion of this encouraging chapter of Psalms.

OUR UNIQUENESS AND SAMENESS

Today I am writing to you from Interlochen, Switzerland. Mark, his brother, and I have seen many many people as we have traveled the past week.Something that has impressed all three of us individually is the uniqueness of every person’s face. When we were in the Zürich airport waiting and watching for Mark’s brother to arrive thousands of people went past us. But only Mark’s brother’s unique face was the one that stood out to us. Yet with all of this uniqueness, we all have significant aspects of our humanness in common.

One of the most important things we have in common as human beings is our need to be forgiven by God because of how we have ignored Him and how we have been unloving to other people. Perhaps this doesn’t seem so important to you. But actually it has great significance not only for the vitality of your life now, but also for eternity.

This Thursday morning during the ladies Bible study time Emily Hunt will be leading the study of lesson three which is a study of Psalm 32. This Psalm by David clearly points out the beauty God’s forgiveness brings to our lives. My soul was really stirred as I studied this Psalm; not only for the joy in my own life, but also for this great need in the thousands of lives around me every day.