Blessings

 May 13, 2022

It’s a late ending to a busy day. I finished re-plumbing the entire house, which enabled me to finally wash the car, started filling the raised garden bed I made for Linda for Mother’s Day. It’s been a day of ups and downs. The down part is wrapping our minds around the melanoma diagnosis that Nate received today. He is Nate, taking it all in stride, looking for ways to use his circumstances to talk about Jesus. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it is often easier to go through something yourself than to have to stand by helplessly, watching the one you love go through it. That’s where we are, trying to wrap our minds around what all this means. We are praying for healing, but not assured that it will come the way we want.

On the bright side, an acquaintance gave me three colonies of bees today. Theirs not only survived the winter; they were so strong it became necessary to split the colonies to prevent their swarming. They ended up with seven colonies, but only wanted four. I was the recipient of their kindness and generosity.

Then this evening, Pastor and Mrs. Bender from the Sinclairville Baptist Church stopped over to visit. Their people have been praying for Nate, and wanted to bless Linda and me also. They gave us what they called “Hugs in a Mug,” coffee cups with little gifts inside, from their congregation. Best of all, they prayed for us. The family of God crosses denominational lines; we are brothers and sisters in Christ, saved by his blood, united in his Spirit. This difficult time in our lives has been made a bit easier because of the love of so many people who bear us up in their prayers and help carry the burden, making it lighter. Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Pastor and Mrs. Bender were Jesus manifest to us tonight in the flesh.