God's Transforming Power in Evidence

Sometimes one looks at an empty page and questions what may be said today. Nothing earth shattering has happened between yesterday and today in our world. I praise God for that. No change is often the best change. Ken is out golfing...his usual Wednesday morning fare. I went to town for my workout and am back home wondering what to tackle next. We are going away next week Wednesday so I have a week to get ready. Not that I need a week. I could leave tonight or tomorrow and not fret over what I left undone. Lauri and Elton and their kids left this morning for South Dakota to visit Elton's relatives there. His grandmother recently had a stroke and while she has done fairly well in recovery, she is still ill. The kids felt strongly about getting there to visit her. Just last summer as we went through that area we stopped to see her in a retirement home. At that time she was fit as a fiddle. Life changes unexpectedly, a lesson to teach us to savor each moment.

Today, we have another funeral in our church...this time a mother of one of the members. This family's involvement in our church is such a miracle. About three or four years ago a lady in the community, not a member of our church but a Christian, brought some children to our summer celebration. She came to me and asked if I would tell the deacons that the children belonged to a family that recently moved to the area and did not have a home and were living in a campground. Her take on their condition was that there was an emergency need for care. Our deacons jumped right on the need and soon the family had food and arrangements were made for them to live in a house. The couple were not married but had lived together for many years and had seven kids between them, three of those products of their union. They began counseling with our pastor and eventually made personal committments to Christ. They eventually were married with our pastor officiating and my husband and I were honored to be guests. Eventually I was priviledged to tutor and mentor some of their children in the high school in which I worked. The kids became some of my dear friends and I still get hugs when they see me at church. The mom told me that her daughter prays for me everyday. That was a very humbling thing for me to hear.

Chris and Jill have had many struggles with some of their older children who got caught up in disruptive behavior. As time goes on, it appears the family is functioning 100 times better than before. They are in church every time the doors open and their children are bonded with other children of the congregation. It has been a beautiful thing to watch as God has transformed their lives. We cherish them as part of our family of God at Community and therefore, I will attend the funeral for the sake of Chris and Jill even though I don't know the deceased lady.