The title of this blog post puts me in a Christmas mood. I think all of us are ready to usher in December because that means 2021 is close. I don’t know what we expect a calendar change to do exactly, but never have we wanted a new year more than now.
Today’s words are not the ones I set out to share this week. I had an entirely different post planned and mustered the courage to start writing it Saturday night. But it required emotion I couldn’t quite express the way I wanted.
I’ll try again next week.
The sermon from my church’s online worship service Sunday morning inspired this substitute writing. Our pastor spoke of the ways nature “preaches” the presence of God. I was immediately transported to Lake Placid, New York and a wonderful summer I spent in 1997.
I still have the handful of cards and letters my daddy mailed me during those months. I searched them for an excerpt to accompany today’s reflection, which I originally posted to Facebook in June 2019. These words seem entirely appropriate for this season we are in:
“Hi Julie Doll!!! There is no greater security or peace than in the hands of our Savior. Do not depend on what you can do but put your faith in what God has done & what he can continue to do. It was a joy & blessing to talk to you the other night. Pray fervently – serve Him diligently and worship Him always!”
God was very near to me in Lake Placid. I saw Him in the magnificence of His creation, and still carry close those encounters.
(Originally posted to Facebook on June 14, 2019)
This mild weather has triggered memories of the summer of ’97 when I served 10 weeks as a BCM student missionary in Lake Placid, NY. We spent a lot of days exploring mountains and creeks, and wearing sweatshirts more than you’d expect in June. July 4th was cold and rainy. I bundled up in blankets to watch fireworks.
I experienced God’s presence in Lake Placid in ways I hadn’t before. I remember talking to Him as we drove along winding roads on our way to some hideaway creek. I remember sitting in a folding chair for Father’s Day services with majestic mountains as a backdrop instead of the more traditional baptistry.
I remember how well my host family, The Hodges, loved me and also how well they loved each other. I remember another family, the Appletons, and Bible verses displayed on cabinet doors, walls and furniture inside their home, and thinking I wanted my grown-up home to reflect Jesus like that.
My travels seem pretty plain sometimes. I am happiest at home. But on a 60-degrees June morning in Alabama, home is not a bad place to be.
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.”
(Psalm 19:1)
