JANUARY 25, 2020

Updated selections from 2015

Colossians 1:3-6

"We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love

which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven,
of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you,

just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, 

even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it 

and understand the grace of God in truth..." 

What joy it is that our President spoke at the Right to Life Rally, 

the first time an American President has done so,

recognizing that every child is a gift from God.

Sometimes it feels like what you do does not leave a mark or makes a difference.  You feel like the stone that sinks to the bottom; even though there were rings of ripples when it hit, they've long ago disappeared.  However we had an unexpected blessing in disguise when my husband was sent for a regular procedure in a small town 45 minutes away.  When his nurse walked in, her smile was a ringer!  It was a beautiful young woman my husband had baptized nearly twenty years ago.  She was a single pregnant young mom back then, raised by a single mother in a trailer, poor folk.  We had forgotten her baptism.  She said, "You gave me quite the talking to, Pastor Jolley."  She also reminded us that we had given her a baby shower in the church, also forgotten.  Finally I remembered taking a stand in our ladies group making it a point to say that every baby needs to be celebrated, regardless of the situation, and the church ladies rallied around her.  Now her youngest sons have just been baptised.  What a blessing it was to see her, not just her tenacity in becoming a nurse against all odds, but that she was walking with the Lord and passing it on to her children.  You never know who you might meet while wearing a hospital gown. 

God knows what lies beneath the ripples.