loved

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Never Alone

I have been blessed over the last weeks to have many people praying for me. I am grateful for those prayers and for those who helped in many other ways.

I also think back to the nights in the hospital and even the times I woke up in the middle of the night once I was home. Those were times of being reminded by God of his tender care of me. The verses he would bring to my mind or the fragment of a hymn.

“Jesus the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrow cease. ‘Tis music in the sinners ears. ‘Tis life and health and peace.”

Our world is in trouble right now. It is more than a physical sickness. It is a spiritual darkness that envelops many. We think especially of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, but there are many people hurting in many locations like Afghanistan and China. It seems hopeless, but we have a God who sees and hears. He still comforts those in trouble. He is at work even in the darkness. Our hope lies not in governments or leaders, but in the God who patiently waits for men to turn to Him. My prayer is that the current trouble causes such a turning.

My granddaughter, Arianna and I recorded this a couple of years ago. It was written by Emma and Stuart Townend. “I Am Here for You”.

For further study:

Deuteronomy 3:22 – “Do not fear them, for the LORD your God is the one fighting for you.”

Isaiah 31:1 – “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!”

Isaiah 41:10, 13b – “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” “…Do not fear, I will help you.”

Jeremiah 31:3 – “…I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

Matthew 28:20b – “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 16:33b – “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I John 4:10 – “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

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Baabaa’s Story

This post is dedicated to my oldest granddaughter, Ashlee. Too quickly you have grown from the little girl in this story to a beautiful young lady.

I firmly believe God gives us children and grandchildren, not so we can teach them, but so they can teach us. Ashlee, you are still one of my favorite people. Love, Grandma.

(First published January 2, 2014)

I know a rabbit named Baabaa. She had downy white fur with soft pink on the inside of her ears. Her eyes were bright and sparkling. She had an orange scarf around her neck. There was a zipper on her underside that opened to a little pocket that carried a tiny baby bunny.

Baabaa came to live with a little girl with red hair when she was just a baby and became her constant companion. When the little girl is tired or afraid she pulls Baabaa close to her face and whispers in the soft pink ears.

The scarf was lost long ago. The eyes are dull and scratched. The zipper is broken, and the tiny baby bunny has been put away for safe keeping. She has been washed so many times that her permanent color is grey. Her coat is matted and worn. The ears which once were so lovely are her roughest part. She has been held and dragged and kissed and loved until she is misshapen, stained and unrecognizable as a rabbit.

There was one horrible episode where she was lost in a store and the little girl spent the night crying… and worrying about where she was… and would she ever see her again. She was retrieved the next morning by the girl’s mother and quickly kissed and hugged and cried over with much relief. From that point on the little girl was more careful with her. She held her tighter when they ventured out.

What is Baabaa worth? Sadly, she would not fetch even 25 cents at a garage sale. Most people would throw her away if they found her, but to one little girl, with red hair, Baabaa’s price is far above rubies. Baabaa would be a very foolish rabbit indeed if she was proud and bragged about how valuable she was. Her value lies only in being loved by a little girl named Ashlee. Without Ashlee her value is less than nothing. There is nothing good or valuable in her.

We are like Baabaa. We are worn and bedraggled and misshapen. We have no worth, but there is someone who loves us and in that is our value. We would be foolish people indeed to brag about how good and valuable we are. No, our only value is in being loved by a good and merciful God. A God who chooses to use broken and weak people to do amazing things.

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” I Corinthians 1:26-31