Good Morning! the Church Picnic Was a Success! There Were Over 100 People Who Came Together

Monday- August 8, 2011

Good Morning! The church picnic was a success! There were over 100 people who came together to share in a meal, to talk about upcoming events, sing beautiful hymns and pray for each other and our churches. Gail Schlenk did a wonderful job entertaining the children with games. There were a bunch! The oldest person there was 85 and the youngest was one month. People were there from other countries and sang in their native tongue. We truly are UNITED Methodists.
Please remember Kay Ratliff in your prayers. Her sister passed away after a battle with cancer. Also pray for Steve Dalton. He is in depression and just wants to feel "whole" again. Continue to pray for our service men and women who took a huge hit in the last couple of days. We are free because of them.
MYSTERIOUS WAYS
When our sons, Chet and Jeff, were teenagers, they always celebrated the end of a long trip home to Florida by dashing out of the car and jumping into our swimming pool. It was the finishing touch to a journey—as much a family tradition as the prayers that started a trip. My wife, Catherine, our children, and I never set out without first asking for God’s protection from trip’s beginning to trip’s end.
One year, before returning from Virginia, the family prayed together as usual, asking God to be especially close. We made the trip south without incident. But on arriving home, the boys failed to make their customary dash to the pool. “Too tired,” they said.
In checking things around the house, I started to switch on the underwater light that creates a beautiful glow in the pool. But the switch was already in the “on” position. Odd, I thought. Well, I guess the bulb burned out. But then a prickly feeling crept over me.
I immediately taped the switch in the “off” position and made sure that no one would enter the pool.
The next morning, I called an electrician, who checked the pool light carefully. “You’ve got an old, obsolete fixture here,” he said. “Must’ve been here before you bought the place. Anyhow, it looks like some water got into the light socket and shorted the circuit. Good thing nobody went swimming—they would have been electrocuted.”
It was more than a good thing. It was one more example of how God touches our lives in a supernatural way when we seek His help.

Lord, let me never doubt Your supernatural involvement in my life.
—LEONARD E. LESOURD
May God bless you this day and have a wonderful day serving the Lord.