The Rabbit in the Storm

            I enjoy watching the wildlife that comes near our home on a regular basis.  Birds are regular visitors to the bird feeders at our home.   Lately, we have been having some rabbits daring to come out of the nearby woods to nibble  on the grass in our yard.   I seem to notice the rabbits  often in the late afternoon and early evening as day slowly becomes night.   The other evening, I noticed something else outside our home:  an approaching thunderstorm.  There was the sound of clapping  thunder nearby and the sight of dark, ominious clouds and lightning flashing across the sky.  Despite it all, I noticed that rabbit was calmly nibbling on the grass in our yard.    While the television warned of a severe thunderstorm and humans sought shelter, that rabbit seemed to be oblivious to it all.   While I am the first to admit that I am certainly not an expert on animals or rabbits,  I wonder if maybe that rabbit knew that the same Creator God that made him also was the Creator God of the storm and it felt peace and serenity in that.

It happens everyday.   I encounter people who fret and worry about something in their life.   Sometimes, that person is me.  They are worrying and wondering about things big and small as  storm clouds are present or  forming.  Perhaps it would do people like me and you well to follow the example of that rabbit knowing that all will be well in the storm because God is with us.  You see, the one that creates the storm also makes and creates us.   Have a joy-filled week. --  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   God,  you are the creator of all creatures and all things.  You have created us and called us good.   Help us to live with the serenity to know that you are with us in stormy times and sunny times.  Help us to trust in your all sufficient grace; through Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

When Things Are the Worst, The Church is at Its Best

            Across the eastern seaboard of this country and in the Bahamas, people are still recovering as I write this  from Hurricane Dorian.   For some people, it will be a slow recovery as they seek to rebuild their homes or rebuild their lives after serious injury or the loss of loved ones.   All those affected by Hurricane Dorian surely need our prayers and our support.

            This week, many will remember September 11, 2001.    I am reminded of  that day 18 years ago when lives were lost and property was destroyed when terrorists used planes as weapons in New York City, the Washington DC area, and the Pennsylvania countryside.     As one who saw first hand in the Fall 2001 in New York City the damage caused by this national tragedy, today I will again pause and reflect on those events.  

            One of the things that unites the events of September 11, 2001 and the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian is this:     such tragedy brings out the best in people.    I recall on the Sunday  after the September 11 attacks, the church that I had the honor to pastor was having a blood drive.   The drive had already been scheduled long before the September 11 attacks.   In the aftermath of those attacks, the church overflowed with blood donors wanting to do something to help thinking their blood might be needed in New York City and other places.       I am certain in these days many people will give a donation of monies, water, and the like to help those along the coast just as they did last year when some of the same coastal areas received an unfriendly visit from Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence.   Others will prepare in the coming days to go to the affected areas to serve as volunteers to help out.

            The church is at its best when it sets aside petty bickering or theological differences and works together to help those in need.   It is in those times I most fully see Christ in the work of the Church.   I invite you to join me in prayer and support for those who are and will be recovering from Hurricane Dorian.    Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   God,  we pray for all those feeling the effects  of Hurricane Dorian.   We especially pray for those who know the pain of loss of loved ones, loss of their homes, and loss of their way of life.   Help us to be healing and helping instruments in these days;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

A Visit to the Skirted Heifer

            While I was in Colorado in August,  I ate most of my meals at places that I do not eat when home in the Carolinas.   While I might visit a chain restaurant when I am at home,  I try to deliberately visit eating places that I cannot eat at when I am at home.  One of those places I ate at in Colorado Springs was named the Skirted Heifer.   I ate there at the invitation of my daughter, Ginger, who shared that it had been featured on a show on a Food Network cable show.   I know what a skirt is, and I know what a heifer is.  However, I do not normally connect the two.

            I soon discovered that one had the option to order their hamburger at the restaurant “skirted”.   Curiosity got the best of me and I ordered my burger “skirted” even though I was not sure what that would mean.  When I got my order, I soon discovered that a “skirted” burger had cheese that not only covered the burger but covered the exterior of the hamburger bun.     Some of you will remember a national hamburger chain many years ago that featured an elderly woman asking  “where’s the beef?” when she got her burger.    At the Skirted Heifer, there was no need to ask where is the beef or where is the cheese.   The beef covered the entire bun and the cheese was bigger than the bun.    I am not certain that a nutritionist would be happy about the amount of cheese I had on my burger that evening, but I was pleased that I got much more than I had expected.   It was perhaps not so good for my diet, but it was good for a consumer who wants to feel like they got more than they ordered.

            Sometimes, a message from God and a promise of God shows up in the most unusual place.   Such was the case as I left the Skirted Heifer on that day.   I was reminded of this passage from Ephesians 3: 20-21 that says:  

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

            God gives us more than we ask or imagine in all sorts of ways.  While a restaurant might give us lots of cheese on our burger, God  gives us blessing and  abundance every day.   Thanks be to God.  Have a joy-filled week. --  Pastor Randy Wall 

Prayer:   God,  we give you thanks for the abundance that you give us always.  Give us an open spirit to what you offer us in this day and in this life;  through Jesus Christ our  Lord.  Amen.