Blessed Sunday to you all! 

Prayer:  Lord of all hope, the hope you provide is not just hope for today and tomorrow, but for all eternity. Thank You for this glorious hope that helps us to live in a broken world. It is in the hope only You provide that we can claim that every tear will be wiped away and joy will take the place of tears and overflow with gladness. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

“When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, ‘Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 14: 15

One of my most wonderful memories in growing up was Sunday dinner at my Mamo’s house. The aromas of the prepared foods were so inviting and comforting. There were several things I could count on…1) when I took the lid off of the cast aluminum pan sitting on the back right burner of her stove I would find the most amazing black-eyed peas I will ever eat, 2) there would be baked corn in a rectangular blue cornflower Corning Ware dish (a recipe she created herself), and; 3) on the table in small waxed paper bundles were her homemade apricot fried pies. She won a ribbon at the State Fair of Texas with those pies. I am pretty sure that upon her death and she checked into heaven, Jesus escorted her to a heavenly kitchen and graciously asked her to make the fried pies because He had been waiting for those pies.

I have hope in the resurrected Christ. This is the hope that gives us courage to keep holding our heads up when we have been asked to endure suffering and sorrow. At 57 years old I have experienced a number of things that have brought me great sorrow, but because I hope in Christ I remember that I still have a life ahead of me on the earth and a life that is waiting my arrival in heaven. Each of us who believe in Jesus have this same hope. Most of us are not facing the end of our lives soon, but we can still feel as if our lives are closing in around us through the stresses that life can bring.

But here is the good news…while we are here on earth our spiritual lives grow stronger the more our relationship to Christ increases. We can grow strong in our hope through the nourishing Presence of God in Christ Jesus. And someday when I get to heaven and sit at that table I have heard so much about, maybe…just maybe, I hope to find waxed paper bundle filled with an apricot fried pie.

Take joy in the journey and remember that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, throw and extra blanket on the bed, pray with a grateful heart and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni, Travis and Sarah.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com   

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.