Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Wednesday, March 24
By Mr. and Mrs. Earl S. (Margaret) Ailor, March 3, 1980
Strength for the Day
Read: Romans 8:28 NIV
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…”
As 1979 began we had many things to be thankful for. We had been blessed with two daughters and two sons. Our oldest daughter was married to a Methodist minister and they had two sons. Our oldest son had completed Claremont Theology School in California and was serving two rural churches near Limestone in upper East Tennessee as a United Methodist Minister. He and his wife, Julia, enjoyed life in a rural pastorate.
On a cold January night, we received a call from the Kingsport hospital that Albert and Julia had been involved in an accident and they needed us. As we drove through the night not knowing what had happened we asked the Lord for strength to face whatever we might find upon arrival. At the hospital our worst fears became a reality in learning our son had been killed. We were thankful our daughter-in-law had miraculously survived.
As days, weeks and months have passed we find strength in the Easter faith our son Albert had in Christ as he had proclaimed the truth that “only believe and we shall meet again.” We have also felt the prayers of our friends in Christ in our time of loss. The three children we still have with us have been a source of comfort to us. We have the faith that “blessed are those who die in the Lord,” and that our son will greet us at the end of the way.
Prayer
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything pleasing in his sight, through Christ Jesus; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20
Thought – “Christ has taken the dark door of death and replaced it with the shining gate of life.” -Bosch
We still have many things for which to be thankful.
