Faith, Grace, and Hope

Today I'm wearing special socks: lavender and black with my name at the ankle (Julia) and the words "clever and kind" on the arch. They make me smile to wear them. How anyone knew me well enough to mass produce socks that describe me perfectly to be sold in a store in England... I'll never know. Are all Julias clever and kind? When I put on my socks this morning, I thought, "My socks say I am Julia", which lead to the thought, "Who do you say that I am?" Now you can see where this is going- right? In the gospel story (Matt. 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-30, Luke 9:18-21), Jesus asks his disciples about the word on the street about him, "Who do people say that I am?" The disciples tell him that some people think he might be John the Baptist or Elijah or possibly another historic prophet- returned from the dead. When Jesus asks his followers who they believe he is, Peter blurts out, "You are the Messiah (or the Christ)." For once Peter had...

Yesterday in church we sang one of my favorite hymns. Here it is with some language edits by me: How Firm a Foundation How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in God's excellent Word! What more can God say than to you has been said, You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled? In every condition, in sickness, in health; In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth; At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be. Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid; I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand. When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow; For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply; The flame shall not hurt thee; I on...

Last week I think I was making people crazy with my Pollyanna attitude. Well, maybe only myself. On Saturday, 27 October, as I was getting ready for bed, I found that my septic tank had backed up and flooded my downstairs bathroom. It was already 9 o'clock at night and I needed to call a plumber, wait for him to come and then clean up the mess after he left. I was so very tired and still needed to get up early and preach the next day. Yet when I went to the store for cleaning supplies at 11:30 at night, I found myself walking through the parking lot praying this: "Thank you, God, that we had money to pay for the repair. Thank you that there is not significant damage and we still have a house. Thank you that this didn't happen on the first night Rob was home." When I realized what I was doing, I kind of laughed at myself because of my seemingly ridiculous level of optimism. Yet I felt happy because I knew things were going to be okay. My high continued to escala...