A Letter from my Father

I found this almost a year ago, and it's been on my bedside table ever since.  I love picking it up and reading it when I'm discouraged, lonely, or needing reassurance.  It's a constant reminder of my dad's love for me, but also, of my Heavenly Father's.  (That's why "A Letter from my Father" can be taken both ways.)

My dad gave it to me six years ago.  I don't even remember the occassion, but since it's dated "13 VI '04" as only my dad would write it, I know that it was given to me right after graduating from high school.

I love that he used Scripture, paraphrasing it so that the God-inspired words in the Apostle Paul's letter feel as if they were written directly to me. 

Sweet Princess B,

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you, from the first day until now.  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 

For it is only right for me to feel this way about you, because I have you in my heart.  For God is my witness, how I long for you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!  Let your patient spirit be known to all.  The Lord is near.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Finally, Bethany, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good reputation, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, pratice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Princess,
Your mother and I pray for you daily.  We look forward to hearing the details of your journey.  We will miss you, but our joy will be intensified when you come home.  It is my joy to remain your Daddy, always.

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face to shine 

Upon you, and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you,

and give you peace. 

There is Nothing

Lord I come before You


To honor and adore You

For who You are and all that You have done

Lord I am not worthy

My heart is dark and dirty

Still somehow You bid for me to come




So clothe me in humility

Remind me, that I come before a King




And there is nothing

There is nothing

More precious, more worthy

May I gaze deeper

May I stand longer

May I press onward to know You Lord




May our time be sweeter

May I be a keeper

Of the promises I make to You in song

Lord may I remember these moments of surrender

And live my life this way from this day on




So clothe me in humility

Remind me, that I come before a King




And there is nothing

There is nothing

More precious, more worthy

May I gaze deeper

May I stand longer

May I press onward to know You Lord



--Laura Story

Like Visiting an Old Friend

Jesse and I went to the high school baccalaureate service tonight at church. We sang How Great Thou Art, which--I don't believe--I've sung since attending a Lutheran church.

I love this song! I still remember the page it's on in the beloved Trinity Hymnal that I sang from all of my growing up years, and the way the voices of the church members blended together with the piano's melody. Jesse's always surprised when I know a song by heart. I don't just memorize them. I feel them in my very being. I love this one! Singing it tonight just made me want to share it with you.




O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!


When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!


And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!


When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Joy in Hard Times

I led the Bible study for our college and career group at church last night, and thought I'd flesh it out here for you (I didn't write anything down other than quick notes for myself, but here's the gist of what I said). In these times, everyone needs a little reflection and encouragement!

While I'm not a fan of using The Message as one's sole version of Scripture, I found it helpful to quote for you here so that you wouldn't be side-tracked by words that you are probably overly familiar with. Read the words below and see if you can recognize who wrote them, when, and for what purpose.

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!


If you can cypher through all of the modern-day language (surely the Apostle did not say that his friends "stuck with him"), you will recognize the words of Paul in his letter to the Philippians ("I thank my God every time I remember you." Is that a little more familiar?)

Here's the whole section from the NIV:
I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:3-8

Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians while he was in prison for preaching God's word. Knowing this, there are some key words and thoughts in the first few verses that stick out to me.

Right from the beginning, Paul says that he prays with joy. How is someone who is in prison able to pray with joy? The first emotions I think I would be praying with would be sorrow or desperation that the Lord would deliver me. But Paul finds joy in praying for others--not even himself. Later on in Philippians, Paul tells his friends "but I want you to know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel." Philippians 1:12

The way that Paul can find true joy in the midst of such difficult circumstances is a demonstration of his Christ-founded peace.

Oh, that I had that peace!

Everywhere you turn today, someone is talking about the economy. It makes headlines in the news every day, you hear people mention the hard times as you pass by, and as the recession continues, it's not something you just hear about--it's affecting everyone.

Jobs, sales, morale, so many things are hurting. In the midst of it all, with no prospective immediate rebound, where do we find joy?

The Bible is full of examples of people who trusted in God yet still saw great suffering. There's your classic Job figure, but let's go past him and think of others whose sufferings are more like our own.

There was Daniel, who was punished for obeying God's authority instead of the government. He was thrown into a den of lions, and when his friend, King Darius returned to the den in the morning, he found Daniel on his knees praising the Lord.

There was Hannah, the beloved wife of Elkanah, who was unable to have children. She prayed to the Lord and promised that if He would give her a son, she would return him to God when he was of age. She raised him and took him to the temple when he was old enough and put him in the care of Eli, the priest, where he continued to serve God.

Joseph suffered for many years after being betrayed by his brothers, but he didn't turn any of it to evil. He befriended one of the Pharoah's officials, became his right-hand man, and soon held one of the most influential positions in Egypt. When a great famine hit the Canaan, Joseph's brothers came to the city to buy food. Joseph recognized them, and instead of punishing them as he had the power to do, he forgave them and invited the whole family to move to Egypt to escape the famine.

Then there was David. Although at first I could only think of the suffering he had as direct result of disobeying God, I was reminded of his suffering while he was in Saul's pursuit. Many of the Psalms depict the true turmoil that David was in, yet he trusted in God to protect him from his enemies.

I won't type it all out here, but these are the verses I had the group turn to to get a better picture of putting our joy and hope in the Lord in the midst of strife:

Psalm 16 (The hope of the faithful)
Psalm 34 (Happiness of those who trust)
Psalm 40 (Faith persevering in trial)
Psalm 71 (God is my hope)
John 15:9-17 (Love and joy perfected)
Philippians 1:12 (Suffering -->furtherance of the Gospel)
1 Peter 3:13-17 (Joy and suffering for righteousness' sake-->model godly behavior)

Lastly, I want to share with you an excerpt from "Devotions for Renewal and Joy" by Warren W. Wiersbe:

The world talks about happiness, but God talks about joy. There is a difference, and when you learn what that difference is, your life will be different.

Happiness depends on happenings, what goes on around you. When your plans work out right, when you feel good, when problems are at a minimum, then you're happy. But
when you wake up with a headache or the boss rearranges your schedule or somebody
you love is hurting, then that happiness fades, and you’re left feeling discouraged and defeated. You feel like quitting.

But life doesn’t have to be that way. You can substitute joy for happiness and experience a whole new kind of life.

Joy doesn’t depend on what goes on around you. It depends on what goes on within you.
It is the result of a right relationship with God, a right attitude toward life, and a right faith in the power of Christ. Happiness says, “I am the captain of my fate!” and courts disaster. Joys says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Php 4:13) and marches to victory.

Paul didn’t write the epistle to the Philippians from a comfortable library or an ivory tower. When he wrote it, he was a prisoner in Rome and in danger of being executed any day. Yet this letter is saturated with joy and rejoicing. Why? Because Paul was a man who knew Christ; he was a single-minded man with a mission to fulfill and a God to serve.

Outlook helps to determine outcome, and in this letter, Paul tells you how to have the kind of outlook that produces joy. He shares the “open secret” of having joy in spite of circumstances, people, things or situations. He explains the basic principles of Christian experience that can turn your life into a daily celebration of the joy of the Lord.

Yes, you will still have problems and battles and burdens, but you will find yourself overcoming instead of being overcome.

You will find yourself joyfully saying with Paul, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”