I remember Amanda Jones saying of a giant step of faith she and her husband, Curtis, took: "We were way out on a limb with God. I like following the rules (mostly) and doing what others expect and knowing their pleasure. I like my comfortable life, my scheduled weeks, my well-planned worship gatherings. What if it takes digging through the roof? What if I have to get my hands dirty? What if it takes every ounce of strength that I have? What if it takes courage, the guts to do what no one else is doing? What if it's hard and out of my comfort zone? What if it takes time - time I had planned to use for something else? What it keeps me awake at night? What if everyone in town is blocking the way, and I have to step out in wild faith? Our friend asked us, after he told us about the archaeology, the excavations, the history of that place, "Will you be the friend who will do whatever it takes?" No sister to bear him up on wings of prayer. No brother to lift his body into the healing waters. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be well, the man replied, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool." Thirty-eight years he lay waiting for a friend to help. Thirty-eight years he lay paralyzed, hoping for a chance to slip into the healing waters. We turned pages, from Mark's story of the ones who dug through the roof, to John's account of the man who didn't have a friend to help. And when He does, He will make all things new. So we bend the knee and He bends His ear because He has promised to be near the broken-hearted.Īnd we believe with every fiber of our being that He is good, that He does all things well.Īnd one day, He will come again. And we pray that those who stand beside their beds will keep the faith.īecause even in the midst of bombs exploding and fires raging, in the midst of broken hearts and shattered bodies, in the midst of horrific tragedy brought about by the hands of evil men and crazy accidents that shake the ground and shatter lives in tiny towns, we know this: And here at our house, we pray also over the broken bodies of ones we love as they lay fighting for their lives in hospital in Birmingham. This printable cute writing paper is handy and versatile. So as we prayed for Israel, we pray now for Boston and for West, Texas. These heart-themed borders are great for encouraging children during independent writing activities. How can men treat other men with such contempt? And how does a town of 2800 recover when nearly 200 of their of their own people are scorched by flames and crushed in the chaos? It seems the world has gone mad, and we wonder if there is hope. And as surely as He wept over Jerusalem, He must weep also over Boston and West, Texas. It blows whole lives wide open and breaks the heart of the living God. In Baghdad, in Boston, on the borders of Israel or on Ben Yehuda Street, it's not OK. The man said it looked like something you'd see in Baghdad or in Israel. I heard it on the news, after the bombing in Boston.
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