This last year for me has been one for the yearbook. With all that’s happened in our lives, it’s honestly felt like the rollercoaster ride from Hades. Bob’s had so many health threats and hospital visits, we should just buy our own wing. The EMTs are our best friends now. From a moral standpoint, I feel like I have fallen so many times that my armor is dented in the knees and elbows. Yet by the grace of God, we are still here, and I am compelled to keep on this path on which my feet have been set.

Now I am beginning to understand the true meaning of a memorial and why the children of Israel set the time to mark special events in their lives. You know, like when Jacob set a pillar in Bethel to commemorate a powerful vision of God that he experienced while sleeping there. The experience was so striking that Jacob felt that it must be commemorated, so he erected the stone upon which he slept. (Genesis 28: 10-22) Or when they carried the Ark of the Covenant over the Jordan, as instructed by Joshua. (Joshua 4:4-7) I believe they are to help you remember the victories that looked so impossible you just didn’t see a way out, yet God gave you a way of escape by his mighty hand. To remind you that nothing is impossible for Him.

God began to remind me of the many victories he’d brought me through when situations looked so hopeless. He reminded me of the time my friend Karen and I were at a Burger King drive-thru, and a homeless man was lying in the grassy knolls. The Holy Spirit said to give him some money, and all I had left was a dollar. Karen and I always pooled our money together in those days while we were on the road trying to advertise for our newspaper. And when I say all I had left was a dollar, that was the truth. But in obedience, I gave that homeless man my last.

Shortly after that incident, I was driving to work, and my car stopped in the middle of the main intersection known as Busch Boulevard and Orange Grove. Right next to Commerce Park. People kept going around me — no one would stop to help me and in those days, I was without a cell phone and could not call for help. I didn’t know what to do. I could not even move my car out of the main traffic. Then out of nowhere, a homeless man appeared on a bicycle—he didn’t have any tools that I could see. Told me to lift my hood, which I did. Told me to start my car—which I did, and it started. I told him I’d offer him some money, but at the time I didn’t have any, and he told me that was okay—got back on his bike and rode away. And as soon as he rode off, I drove what I thought was right behind him.

But as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. I rode up and down Busch Boulevard but could not find him anywhere. Isn’t it ironic? I gave my last to a homeless man, and a homeless man showed up when I was down to the last count? So I must go on record saying that obedience is better than sacrifice. And who knows that homeless man on the grassy knolls might not have been a homeless man at all! Beware — Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Hebrews 13:2 NKJV)

All I know is that at a time when my situation seemed hopeless and impossible, help came. “Psalm 46:1 says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The conclusion of the whole matter…Trouble will come in this life, but we have to believe and know that God is our shelter, and in our time of weakness and impossibilities, He is made strong. He’s always there! So I encourage you today, dear reader. Remain obedient and hold on to your faith no matter how bad it looks because He is ever present—He is always there.

May the Blessings of the LORD be with you today and always. Thank you for your continued readership and support. Blessings and Peace! 

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