Monday, August 11, 2008

The Crucible

On Sunday morning Rich and I were ready to leave for church but I hesitated because Elizabeth and Nicholas were just waking up and Chad and Jenn were still asleep.  But I'm so thankful that we went to service -  singing Psalm 105 vs. 5 about 'until God providentially made Pharoah set poor Joseph free', and being amazed at Jack's sermon on I Peter 4:12-19, in which he talked about what it means that our lives are in the crucible to be tested, using Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Troy Rienstra as examples, and then the prayers that Cele offered on behalf of the congregation, using the note I sent down the aisle to her about Troy's commutation being on the pile in the governor's office right now, waiting her confirmation of the parole board's 'no interest.'  But God controls the hearts of governors - through his people who plead the case of the poor and disregarded. 
Elizabeth had asked lots of questions about Sea to Sea when we were riding home from a busy day on Saturday.  After swimming in Aunt Jeanne's lake, going out for supper with Jeanne and Nancy, and then to Shirley and Rick's for dessert and a lot of monster truck stuff, she and I were sitting in the back of the van having a little conversation.  "Tell me more, Grandma," she'd say, and I reviewed all the things I knew I needed to think about related to the bike trip in a week.  When we arrived home, she sighed, "Wow, thanks for telling me all about that!"    I sent her home with a 'glow in the dark'  Sea to Sea bracelet.   Can't wait to tell her stories after the trip is over. 


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