For Such a Time As This

Our church usually offers two alternatives for Adult Sunday School.  One follows the traditional class published by our church headquarters.  There is a new book each quarter, which often is broken into a couple of different units of focus.  For the summer months, the themes are "Triumph of Christ's Kingdom (Daniel and Revelation)" and "Help for Life's Journey".  The second option we refer to as the "elective class", and usually involves selecting a book to study or DVD series.  Interestingly, our current class option came our way from someone who doesn't even attend our church.  They had the study materials on hand, and felt led to pass them on instead of letting them collect dust on their bookshelf.  Thus it came to be we are now pursuing a DVD Beth Moore Study on the book of Esther.

The story of Esther has long fascinated me, and a fresh perspective is always welcome.  If you've never read her story, I would encourage you to do so.  You will find it in the pages of the Old Testament, sandwiched between Nehemiah and Job. Or an alternative would be to watch a 2006 movie rendition called, "One Night With the King", which follows the Biblical account fairly well.  Esther's story is a fairy tale type story, where a seemingly insignificant young lady finds herself in a position to change the course of an entire nation.  One of the portions often quoted from chapter 4 and verse 14, finds Esther's cousin, Mordecai, sending her the message, "And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

The story of Esther is one of destiny.  She was placed in the right place at the right time for God's right purpose to be fulfilled.  Perhaps my life story doesn't involve being invited to a palace or marrying a king.  Still, I sense God has a purpose and calling on my life, just as He did Esther's.  How about you?  In the comings and goings of your life, do you see God at work, "for such a time as this"?  Please feel free to share how God is working in and through you or your church to make an impact on your community.  We can all learn from each other, and with God's guidance make a difference in the world.

All Gone But the Memories

The "Before" Picture

It has been a bittersweet day which started out with a bang. . .and a beep, beep . . .and a crash!  "What is going on out there?" ran through my mind until I realized the concrete crew we had hired to replace our sidewalks had begun the deconstruction phase of the project.  First to be removed were big chunks of sidewalk.

Then they progressed to taking down the little deck outside our front door, railing and steps.  Soon the only thing left was the dirt they would rebuild on.

 

As I visited with one of the workers, I commented there were a lot of memories packed into those pieces they had removed.  Somewhere around forty years of memories.  How many times were those steps used to access our home and by how many different people?  I thought of our parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles and scores of relatives and friends who came to visit and left by those stairs.  I thought of our children learning to walk up and down them, and then in more recent years our grandchildren doing the same.  If concrete steps could talk, they would have lots of stories to tell!

 

Crossing my mind was a memory of the time a little fawn wondered into our yard in the evening and a curious little girl and boy came out onto the steps to investigate.

 

I thought of countless dozens of petunias which had added a splash of color in the adjacent planters during the summer months.  At Christmas it was a Nativity scene which graced the same planters.  Artificial flowers filled them with autumn colors in the fall and welcome colors of spring when it was not yet warm enough for the real thing.

As I looked back, I also thought ahead to the completion of the project and how different things will be.  The stairs will descend to the west instead of to the south to avoid the inevitable patch of ice which seemed to accumulate every winter.  A broader base will provide the foundation for a small deck with space for a couple of chairs to relax in.  It will take some thinking and planning, but factored into the new layout will be a means to continue planting petunias and displaying the Nativity Scene.  It will be a "work in progress" for a time, but hopefully, when completed, it will be the source of many more memories in the years to come.

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

and He will establish your plans."

~Proverbs 16:3