Encouragement comes in all shapes and sizes....in unexpected places the last couple of weeks...
While staying in Philip's grandmother's home we came across a church bulletin from June 4, 1961. It was the last Sunday Philip's grandparents would be with the church in Warwood before they set sail for the mission field. The article described their plans for the next two months of traveling to meet with other congregations, visiting with relatives, and attending the World Evangelism Workshop before moving with their three young children to Lebanon in the Middle East. If we have lost our minds, as some friends have so gently told us, at least we come by it honestly. More than that, we are standing on the shoulders of giants.
A couple of weeks ago we visited a church in Arkansas we had never previously attended. A man stopped to talk to us and hesitantly told us that when we walked in the room the words, "father to many, mother to all" clearly came into his mind. He was sort of apologetic for having something so strange to tell us, but the strength of the words led him to share it anyway. We smiled and told him, "We know exactly to what those words are referring. We are preparing to move our family to Africa to work with orphans." I'll never forget his reaction. His jaw hit the ground and his eyes popped open. We were mutually encouraged by the truth and vision in the "strange" words he shared.
May you be encouraged today in Him who called you.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Hebrews 3:13
