Family Connection 10.25.2010

Family Connection
10.25.2010
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)
I sat next to my friend, Doug White, in the ER this past Friday and read these words to him (Doug’s wife, Kym and his parents were in the room as well. Doug had an accident; he fell off the back of a golf cart at work and fractured his skull. As of this writing, he is still in the ICU recovering. Please pray for his healing and for strength for his family). As I read the words out of Philippians, I was struck by the power contained in the passage; how we can trust in and rely on our Heavenly Father in all situations. We can rely on Him when things are going well, and we can rely on Him when things are difficult. We can trust God no matter what!
We live in a world where tragedy occurs on a daily basis. We cannot turn on the news, or open a newspaper without reading about something bad happening to someone, somewhere. The children in our lives are growing up in the same world; what can we do to help prepare them to face the hard things in life? We can help them understand that we can trust God no matter what.
This week, I would encourage you to have a conversation with the children in your lives about a time when God came through for you. Tell them about a time when you really needed to have God show up, and He did. Even though things may not have turned out the way you would have liked them to; talk about a time when you felt a peace that transcends all understanding and how God saw you through that time (maybe He is still seeing you through even now). I want to encourage you not to worry if you don’t have all the answers, just rest in the fact that the peace God gives doesn’t have to make sense to us, in fact it’s supposed to transcend all understanding. My friend Kym is resting right now in that same peace that doesn’t make any sense based on circumstances.
Walking by your side,
Brett Humphrey
Pastor H

PS-I did receive permission from Kym to share their story with you.