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A Letter in August…
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Dear Readers,

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to write.  2015 has been a very challenging year for my wife and I so far.  It’s presented serious health issues for me, losses that we’ve grieved together, and other struggles within my immediate family.  Last Christmas, Denise presented me with the gift of Susan Boyle’s latest CD titled “Hope.”  If you’re at all familiar with Susan, you will know that she’s a Scottish singer who rose from relative obscurity after appearing on “Britain’s Got Talent” back in 2009.  Besides being a very humble person, she has a beautiful voice that I personally find quite mesmerizing.  In fact, I own all six of her CD’s and often listen to her while driving.  Her latest CD (Hope) features inspirational songs that offer encouragement.  One of the songs featured on the CD is an acapella arrangement of the old hymn “Abide With Me.”  This song quickly became one of my favorites on the CD and I’ve listened to it over and over again.  The first verse goes like this:

 Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;

When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

     Although I grew up singing the old hymns from a young age in church, I’d never heard this song (to my recollection), and I had no memory of ever singing it.  Something within the words resonated with me, and little did I know that it would become the theme song of sorts for me in 2015.  Through all the storms in life, we as Christians can cling to the fact that our hope is in the eternal and our God does indeed abide with us!  When the comfortable times vanish, others fail us, and the skies of life get dark with storm clouds, our helper and strong deliver will always abide with us.  I wish each of you a great rest of 2015.  As we approach the fall season and life gets busier and more hectic, don’t forget to carry your candle in the darkness and shine your Christ light as you go and light your world! 

May the Lord of us all bless and keep you always,

Stephen Signature

“Abide With Me” Henry F. Lyte 1847 © public domain

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Lyrics courtesy of Timeless Truths Library

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Random thought for the day…

From a calendar that my wife keeps on the kitchen window sill.  Each day has a different inspirational thought.  Today’s thought is certainly relevant in my life.

Sometimes we don’t forgive ourselves for things we’ve done, and so we give ourselves a lifetime of punishment for whatever we did and did not do.  Sometimes we blame God for things that have happened.  Ask God to show you if any of these things are true about you.  Don’t let unforgiveness limit what God wants to do in your life.