Posts
Happy Saturday!
Tonight we attended the dissolving of a 20 year ministry. The NTNL Lutheran Happening is no more.
Participants were coming few and far between and adult sponsorship was dwindling. It was a bittersweet time as we renewed old friendships with those who had attended the very first Happening events to those who had attended more recent weekends. There were three spiritual directors present to lead worship and preside over Eucharist so I led the congregation in song with the band behind me. Geni and Travis read the scripture lessons and Travis presided as Youth Rector during worship. My children make me very proud.
When we got to the end of the service we gathered around and sang the Michael W. Smith song, Friends. We closed every Happening with that song. I really missed Casey tonight and asked God if Casey could just peak down from heaven and watch his brother, sister and friends joined in worship. Geni told me, “Oh Mom, Casey was here.” There were some smiles and tears and a belief that Happening was not finished but just moving on hopefully to a new location.
It was a joy to watch my own children grow spiritually through Happening. They all three served on numerous teams and were all Rectors (youth leaders) on weekend events. It was a joy to serve on these teams as a Spiritual Director and get to do silly things to share the love of God through Jesus with these wonderful young people. It is a ministry I will miss and hope at some time will return.
2 Chronicles 5:13 “As the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord.”
Tonight as we said our good-byes we were all searching for something for which to be glad. When something comes to an end God calls us to find something for which to be thankful. I listened to each person who spoke tell how thankful they were for what Happening had meant in their life. Travis shared how much Happening meant to him as he dealt with the loss of Casey. I gave thanks for being able to witness and share these spiritually forming years with these young people.
When we are thankful when it is hard to be thankful, it is called the sacrifice of praise. It means to seek diligently something for which to be thankful in each of life’s happenings. In seeking something for which to be thankful even when it is so hard will cause joy to spring into your heart.
Today I received an email for a friend telling of how a mother accidentally backed over her one year old child. The child did not survive. I do not know how to find the sacrifice of praise in this situation. I just know I have been in prayer for this family all day. When we lost Casey the thankfulness we offered up was that God allowed us to spend this last year of Casey’s life with him.
We have great power over Satan when we are thankful in the most difficult and devastating of moments and situations. Maybe thankfulness does not come right away but asking God to give you a glad and thankful heart will open to door to hear His voice and receive His blessings.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for you; please continue your prayers for this family. Love you all and see you in worship, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Happy Thursday!
Candidacy process update: Today I received a packet of materials asking medical history including at what age my grandparents died. I had to make a phone call to mom and dad to find those answers. Go figure! My interview which is four hours long is scheduled for September 9 in Dallas (start praying now!) and the remainder of my current paperwork is due by August 13. I am beginning to think that the ELCA must think if you can endure the entrance procedures to the candidacy process you might just make it in the ministry!
1John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.”
When do we dwell with God? Do we dwell with God only when we are in trouble or experiencing grief and loss? Or, do we remember that we dwell with God when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing (yes, I know it is July in Texas) and the flowers are blooming? God dwells with us in the storm and in the calm. God dwells with us when our lives are filled with butterflies and best friends and cold iced tea on a summer day. I remember my mother-in-law, bless her precious soul. If there was not a current crisis going on, she would find one or create one. She seemed to struggle to accept the sunlight and beautiful day and was much more comfortable with the storm. She was a praying woman and maybe the storm kept her close to God. But as we all know the sun always shines after the storm.
The sunshine after the storm is God’s promise to remain with us in all we do, everyday and every way. Out of His love for us He chose to dwell with us through Jesus. Jesus walked daily with the disciples in the storm, on the beach, down the road, during dinner and in the temple. He dwelt with them in their lives day by day and through each night. Jesus lived in love with the disciples and taught them to love God through Himself.
Jesus tells us, “I have overcome the world. You will have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” We can dwell with God and joy and peace shall be ours, sunshine or rain.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you. Please continue to pray for our family.
Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Candidacy process update: Today I received a packet of materials asking medical history including at what age my grandparents died. I had to make a phone call to mom and dad to find those answers. Go figure! My interview which is four hours long is scheduled for September 9 in Dallas (start praying now!) and the remainder of my current paperwork is due by August 13. I am beginning to think that the ELCA must think if you can endure the entrance procedures to the candidacy process you might just make it in the ministry!
1John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.”
When do we dwell with God? Do we dwell with God only when we are in trouble or experiencing grief and loss? Or, do we remember that we dwell with God when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing (yes, I know it is July in Texas) and the flowers are blooming? God dwells with us in the storm and in the calm. God dwells with us when our lives are filled with butterflies and best friends and cold iced tea on a summer day. I remember my mother-in-law, bless her precious soul. If there was not a current crisis going on, she would find one or create one. She seemed to struggle to accept the sunlight and beautiful day and was much more comfortable with the storm. She was a praying woman and maybe the storm kept her close to God. But as we all know the sun always shines after the storm.
The sunshine after the storm is God’s promise to remain with us in all we do, everyday and every way. Out of His love for us He chose to dwell with us through Jesus. Jesus walked daily with the disciples in the storm, on the beach, down the road, during dinner and in the temple. He dwelt with them in their lives day by day and through each night. Jesus lived in love with the disciples and taught them to love God through Himself.
Jesus tells us, “I have overcome the world. You will have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” We can dwell with God and joy and peace shall be ours, sunshine or rain.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you. Please continue to pray for our family.
Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Happy Tuesday!
The paper went out over the airwaves today. I wrote to my teacher and asked for a confirmation that she received the paper, just to be sure.
Leviticus 26:12 “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be My people.”
Touched by an Angel begins with Della Reese singing,”I will walk with you.” What a wonderful comforting phrase and promise from our God. God walks with us to guide, protect, comfort, strengthen and uphold each of us every step of the road on which we walk.
Have you ever walked with a friend? I mean not just to get to a destination, but just to be with the person. I think that is one of the reasons God walks among us. God loves us. He loves us as His children and loves us as friends. Friends enjoy spending time together. Sometimes friends talk as they walk and sometimes they walk together in comfortable silence allowing each other just to enjoy being in each other’s company.
I think walking with God is sort of like that. Sometimes when I am with God I talk, ask, listen, share, cry and laugh. And sometimes when I am with God I just call His name and am quiet before Him and walk in comfortable silence like two good friends. I find a sense of comfort in the simplicity of the walk and in its Love and trust. I also find powerful joy rising up within me when I walk with God.
God loves to walk with His children when we are in need and when we are just in need of a walk. Take time to walk with God. He has claimed us as His people and names Himself our God. So my friends, lace up your sneakers and take a walk.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable “walking” shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you and give thanks for your prayers for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
The paper went out over the airwaves today. I wrote to my teacher and asked for a confirmation that she received the paper, just to be sure.
Leviticus 26:12 “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be My people.”
Touched by an Angel begins with Della Reese singing,”I will walk with you.” What a wonderful comforting phrase and promise from our God. God walks with us to guide, protect, comfort, strengthen and uphold each of us every step of the road on which we walk.
Have you ever walked with a friend? I mean not just to get to a destination, but just to be with the person. I think that is one of the reasons God walks among us. God loves us. He loves us as His children and loves us as friends. Friends enjoy spending time together. Sometimes friends talk as they walk and sometimes they walk together in comfortable silence allowing each other just to enjoy being in each other’s company.
I think walking with God is sort of like that. Sometimes when I am with God I talk, ask, listen, share, cry and laugh. And sometimes when I am with God I just call His name and am quiet before Him and walk in comfortable silence like two good friends. I find a sense of comfort in the simplicity of the walk and in its Love and trust. I also find powerful joy rising up within me when I walk with God.
God loves to walk with His children when we are in need and when we are just in need of a walk. Take time to walk with God. He has claimed us as His people and names Himself our God. So my friends, lace up your sneakers and take a walk.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable “walking” shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you and give thanks for your prayers for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Happy Monday!
I finished writing my paper today. Praise God!! I have given it to Bruce to give it the once over twice and hopefully it will be in the hands (or at least the computer) of my teacher tomorrow.
Sunday, I was presented with a beautiful prayer shawl in sort of a southwest pink color by the prayer shawl ministry of our church. As I worked on this paper, I set it beside me, prayed for God’s guidance and my openness to hear Him and His message and I was finished in a reasonably short time. Bruce came home for lunch and I was working on the paper. I started screaming and he ran out of the office. These were screams of joy as I figured out how to tie it all together. When I finished I felt like I had lost the final 15 pounds I need to lose in a single afternoon! (But no such luck)
Colossians 3:13 “Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also you must too.”
The final paper I was to write was how to insert pastoral care into the lives of the family in the movie Ordinary People starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton. Mary Tyler Moore is the mother who has lost her oldest son to a tragic boating accident and then almost loses her other son (Timothy Hutton) to an attempted suicide. She builds a near impervious wall of separation around herself and treats her remaining son without love, affection, understanding or any recognition that he has experienced loss also. Her character made me really angry.
So I had to put into practice what I was taught in the class and by my very wise hubby. I had to remove myself from the scenario and remember that I was God’s representative and my anger and judgment would serve no purpose in this woman’s life or assist her in her healing.
I pulled the paper through the story of Peter as he meets Jesus by the lake following the resurrection. The story is a story of reconciliation, forgiveness and being welcomed back into fellowship with God through Jesus. The family in the movie needed to reconcile as a family, receive forgiveness and give forgiveness to each other.
God lost His son to murder. And if He could forgive the angry mob, forgive the ones who drove the nails and those who mocked Him, He can and does forgive us of our rather “ordinary” sins. God calls us to show His merciful love and grace and forgive others as He has shown us forgiveness.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for you. Thank you for praying for me and please continue to pray for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
I finished writing my paper today. Praise God!! I have given it to Bruce to give it the once over twice and hopefully it will be in the hands (or at least the computer) of my teacher tomorrow.
Sunday, I was presented with a beautiful prayer shawl in sort of a southwest pink color by the prayer shawl ministry of our church. As I worked on this paper, I set it beside me, prayed for God’s guidance and my openness to hear Him and His message and I was finished in a reasonably short time. Bruce came home for lunch and I was working on the paper. I started screaming and he ran out of the office. These were screams of joy as I figured out how to tie it all together. When I finished I felt like I had lost the final 15 pounds I need to lose in a single afternoon! (But no such luck)
Colossians 3:13 “Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also you must too.”
The final paper I was to write was how to insert pastoral care into the lives of the family in the movie Ordinary People starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton. Mary Tyler Moore is the mother who has lost her oldest son to a tragic boating accident and then almost loses her other son (Timothy Hutton) to an attempted suicide. She builds a near impervious wall of separation around herself and treats her remaining son without love, affection, understanding or any recognition that he has experienced loss also. Her character made me really angry.
So I had to put into practice what I was taught in the class and by my very wise hubby. I had to remove myself from the scenario and remember that I was God’s representative and my anger and judgment would serve no purpose in this woman’s life or assist her in her healing.
I pulled the paper through the story of Peter as he meets Jesus by the lake following the resurrection. The story is a story of reconciliation, forgiveness and being welcomed back into fellowship with God through Jesus. The family in the movie needed to reconcile as a family, receive forgiveness and give forgiveness to each other.
God lost His son to murder. And if He could forgive the angry mob, forgive the ones who drove the nails and those who mocked Him, He can and does forgive us of our rather “ordinary” sins. God calls us to show His merciful love and grace and forgive others as He has shown us forgiveness.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for you. Thank you for praying for me and please continue to pray for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Blessed Sunday!
What an amazing day! We spent most of the day with our friends Carme and Dave. They met us for worship and then for lunch. The people at the restaurant sort of put us in the corner and it was a wise choice because between Carme, Dave, Bruce, me, Geni, Travis and Carrie (one of Geni’s friends from school), we were the loudest table in the restaurant, but we also had the most fun! After a short break, we then went back to Carme and Dave’s hotel and had a great visit. Carme and Dave are doing really well.
Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart leads his way; but the Lord guides his steps.”
In worship today Pastor Marc spoke about holy moments. Moments in our lives when the Spirit raises up in us glimpses of the way God wants us to lead our lives. When Jesus prayed the Lord’s Prayer, it was witnessed by the disciples. Can you imagine their awe when this One whom they only might imagine has powers greater than their own, bowing before the Father in prayer? Here is Jesus teaching them to pray because He practices prayer Himself.
Just as God had lordship over His Son, Jesus, Jesus has lordship over our lives. God through Jesus and the Word asks us leave plans to Him and then act as He bids us to act. When we learn to trust Jesus with our plans then we enter into a God-guided life. This means God-taught and God-guided. What an amazing life to which we have all been charged! I believe my heart has led me to the ministry of chaplaincy and school will teach me how to do this job and God will guide me each step of the way through prayer, study, the Word and His people.
Tomorrow it is my plan to complete my pastoral care paper. I am giving God lordship over this paper. I will pray before I begin the final part of the paper, keep my beautiful prayer shawl close by (I was given a beautiful hand-crochet prayer shawl by the Prayer Shawl Ministry of Advent today) and ask God to help me write the words to convey the message of compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation needed to show God’s love and grace in the ministry of pastoral care. Thank you for all of your continued prayers.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you. Please continue to pray for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
PS By the time I get this degree all of you are going to feel as if you too have earned a Masters of Divinity, too!
What an amazing day! We spent most of the day with our friends Carme and Dave. They met us for worship and then for lunch. The people at the restaurant sort of put us in the corner and it was a wise choice because between Carme, Dave, Bruce, me, Geni, Travis and Carrie (one of Geni’s friends from school), we were the loudest table in the restaurant, but we also had the most fun! After a short break, we then went back to Carme and Dave’s hotel and had a great visit. Carme and Dave are doing really well.
Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart leads his way; but the Lord guides his steps.”
In worship today Pastor Marc spoke about holy moments. Moments in our lives when the Spirit raises up in us glimpses of the way God wants us to lead our lives. When Jesus prayed the Lord’s Prayer, it was witnessed by the disciples. Can you imagine their awe when this One whom they only might imagine has powers greater than their own, bowing before the Father in prayer? Here is Jesus teaching them to pray because He practices prayer Himself.
Just as God had lordship over His Son, Jesus, Jesus has lordship over our lives. God through Jesus and the Word asks us leave plans to Him and then act as He bids us to act. When we learn to trust Jesus with our plans then we enter into a God-guided life. This means God-taught and God-guided. What an amazing life to which we have all been charged! I believe my heart has led me to the ministry of chaplaincy and school will teach me how to do this job and God will guide me each step of the way through prayer, study, the Word and His people.
Tomorrow it is my plan to complete my pastoral care paper. I am giving God lordship over this paper. I will pray before I begin the final part of the paper, keep my beautiful prayer shawl close by (I was given a beautiful hand-crochet prayer shawl by the Prayer Shawl Ministry of Advent today) and ask God to help me write the words to convey the message of compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation needed to show God’s love and grace in the ministry of pastoral care. Thank you for all of your continued prayers.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you. Please continue to pray for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
PS By the time I get this degree all of you are going to feel as if you too have earned a Masters of Divinity, too!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Happy Saturday!
Our dearest and oldest friends Carme and Dave Russell are here for the weekend. We met for coffee this morning and had lunch together. Then Carme, Geni, Travis and I went to a tattoo parlor. Now there are some words I never thought I would say! I was very surprised at how clean, spacious and very salon-like the shop was. Geni and Travis both got a yellow ribbon in Casey’s memory and a pink ribbon in support of Carme surviving breast cancer. The artist who did the tattoos was a great guy and was the best artist in the house. It was an adventure!
Zechariah 4:10 “For who has despised the day of small things?”
Today I went with my best friend to watch her get a tattoo. She held my hand tightly as the artist was working on her and we talked. We remembered the joys and the losses we have shared in the last thirty years of our lives. We remembered all of the New Year’s Eve’s spent with each other. The funny story about hot chocolate! All of those blood drive breakfasts we all made together. She made batches of biscuits and every egg was a new adventure! She lost both her father and her father-in-law to pancreatic cancer. She lost her young daughter to heart and lung failure when Catherine was just three. I sang baby Catherine’s funeral.
We talked about our shared loss of Casey and how he would have loved being there with her as she got her tattoo. We shared joy in the loss of weight we have both experienced recently. We talked about the joy our children bring to us. We shed some tears over our losses and the joy of our bounty in the love and friendship we have shared over the years. We laughed at the silly things we have done together in our lives. And promised that we would get together again eat popcorn and watch all six Rocky movies. (Bruce and Dave might not make it.) I treasure the friendship I have with Carme and Dave.
There is another friendship I treasure. I treasure the friendship I have with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just as Carme and Dave are but a phone call away when I need them, God is just a prayer away. God can be summoned in an instant. His presence can be felt the instant we call His name. God desires to be a daily part of our lives and for us to call on Him in the small everyday things. Calling on God daily is one of the ways we become friends with Him and we get to know Him as a personal friend. Give daily thanks for your life, for your families, the ability to worship and the friendship we have with God through our Lord, Savior and friend, Jesus Christ.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for you and I ask you to pray for our family. Love you all and see you in worship, Bruce, Gaylene, and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Our dearest and oldest friends Carme and Dave Russell are here for the weekend. We met for coffee this morning and had lunch together. Then Carme, Geni, Travis and I went to a tattoo parlor. Now there are some words I never thought I would say! I was very surprised at how clean, spacious and very salon-like the shop was. Geni and Travis both got a yellow ribbon in Casey’s memory and a pink ribbon in support of Carme surviving breast cancer. The artist who did the tattoos was a great guy and was the best artist in the house. It was an adventure!
Zechariah 4:10 “For who has despised the day of small things?”
Today I went with my best friend to watch her get a tattoo. She held my hand tightly as the artist was working on her and we talked. We remembered the joys and the losses we have shared in the last thirty years of our lives. We remembered all of the New Year’s Eve’s spent with each other. The funny story about hot chocolate! All of those blood drive breakfasts we all made together. She made batches of biscuits and every egg was a new adventure! She lost both her father and her father-in-law to pancreatic cancer. She lost her young daughter to heart and lung failure when Catherine was just three. I sang baby Catherine’s funeral.
We talked about our shared loss of Casey and how he would have loved being there with her as she got her tattoo. We shared joy in the loss of weight we have both experienced recently. We talked about the joy our children bring to us. We shed some tears over our losses and the joy of our bounty in the love and friendship we have shared over the years. We laughed at the silly things we have done together in our lives. And promised that we would get together again eat popcorn and watch all six Rocky movies. (Bruce and Dave might not make it.) I treasure the friendship I have with Carme and Dave.
There is another friendship I treasure. I treasure the friendship I have with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just as Carme and Dave are but a phone call away when I need them, God is just a prayer away. God can be summoned in an instant. His presence can be felt the instant we call His name. God desires to be a daily part of our lives and for us to call on Him in the small everyday things. Calling on God daily is one of the ways we become friends with Him and we get to know Him as a personal friend. Give daily thanks for your life, for your families, the ability to worship and the friendship we have with God through our Lord, Savior and friend, Jesus Christ.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for you and I ask you to pray for our family. Love you all and see you in worship, Bruce, Gaylene, and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com
I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.
Happy Friday! .
Psalm 119: 165 “Great peace have they which love Your law; and nothing shall offend them.”
Bruce is serving on a Walk to Emmaus Weekend at this writing. He gives a talk first thing in the morning on Changing the World. I think his primary point of the talk is that in order to change the world, we must first change ourselves. The world changes when men and women of God take a stand against injustice and strive for peace. Peace does not mean the absence of conflict, or pain and suffering. That peace that passes all understanding happens when in the midst of conflict, pain and suffering the love of God is still firmly grounded in our hearts. Each difficulty is a training ground to enable each of us to acquire this kind of peace. God’s law says that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. When we keep God’s law in all we do then we have peace. We cannot allow any disruption of that peace that God has given to each of us. The beautiful musical piece by Pachelbell, the Canon in D played in weddings and other services begins with these words, “In the silence of our souls, O Lord we contemplate Thy peace.” These words do not say the peace that the world offers which is temporal and a bandaid fix, but the everlasting assurance that only God can provide. When we search our souls and find God’s love present and firmly in place then we have the peace that passes all understanding.
Pray for Bruce as he delivers this talk, for the team and the pilgrims. Also, I ask special prayers for a friend of mine whose son surrendered himself to the authorities tonight and will spend the next five weeks in jail. Her heart is broken. Please pray for peace for this family. Thank you.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you and I ask you to pray for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis
Psalm 119: 165 “Great peace have they which love Your law; and nothing shall offend them.”
Bruce is serving on a Walk to Emmaus Weekend at this writing. He gives a talk first thing in the morning on Changing the World. I think his primary point of the talk is that in order to change the world, we must first change ourselves. The world changes when men and women of God take a stand against injustice and strive for peace. Peace does not mean the absence of conflict, or pain and suffering. That peace that passes all understanding happens when in the midst of conflict, pain and suffering the love of God is still firmly grounded in our hearts. Each difficulty is a training ground to enable each of us to acquire this kind of peace. God’s law says that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. When we keep God’s law in all we do then we have peace. We cannot allow any disruption of that peace that God has given to each of us. The beautiful musical piece by Pachelbell, the Canon in D played in weddings and other services begins with these words, “In the silence of our souls, O Lord we contemplate Thy peace.” These words do not say the peace that the world offers which is temporal and a bandaid fix, but the everlasting assurance that only God can provide. When we search our souls and find God’s love present and firmly in place then we have the peace that passes all understanding.
Pray for Bruce as he delivers this talk, for the team and the pilgrims. Also, I ask special prayers for a friend of mine whose son surrendered himself to the authorities tonight and will spend the next five weeks in jail. Her heart is broken. Please pray for peace for this family. Thank you.
Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. I am praying for each of you and I ask you to pray for our family. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis
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