Oh Caldwell, there are so many of both, aren’t there? Joys and concerns.
As for joys these days – we rejoice with two sets of Caldwell parents, Kate & Meredith and Devin & Jenni, over the births of new babies into their families. We rejoice with students and teachers and administrators that school is out and summer plans are taking shape. We rejoice with the Hope interns that their placements seem to be going well. We rejoice and wish bon voyage to those heading off on vacation and off to the continent of Africa to love and care for God’s beloved children there. We rejoice with those planning for weddings and marriage. There is much joy to celebrate.
(Wanna take meals to Devin and Jenni and show some Caldwell love to their recently expanded family? Click here.)
As for our concerns – we weep with those who have received difficult diagnoses recently. We groan with those recovering from painful surgeries and both medical and dental procedures. We mourn with those who have lost family members. We wince with those who are coping with Covid and COPD. And we sigh deeply with those who battle depression, anxiety, worry, and fear of every kind.
One of the great joys of my life is walking through the days of your lives with you, Caldwell. To call you and text you and go for walks with you and pray with you and for you. And I have seen you care for one another in profoundly beautiful ways. Because you already know that when we walk this road together, when we take the time to focus on joys and concerns, we deepen the bonds of faith and connection between us and around us. We bolster each other’s faith and lift each other’s spirits. I pray that in the coming days and weeks, we will continue to deepen our commitment to wrapping one another in prayer – those who rejoice and those who mourn as well.
And when we have no idea what to say to each other or how to pray for each other, we can remind one another of the promises that we read in Romans chapter 8 – that at those very moments, the Spirit intercedes for us with groans and sighs that words cannot express. We can remind each other that the same chapter tells us that Jesus intercedes for us.
What blessed hope we can gain from that truth, dear ones – that we are being interceded for, prayed for, loved, and cherished by the Triune God whom we adore.
Romans 8 tells us something else that I want to share with you today – “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?….Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?….No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Caldwell, please read those last lines again. Especially if the concerns and challenges and demands and difficulties of life feel like they are about to overwhelm you or take your breath away – read it again. I admit that I have needed to read these verses a couple of times today.
Nothing, nothing, nothing has ever, can ever, or will ever separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Period.
I invite you respond to this email and share your joys and concerns with me. I promise I will lift you in prayer as soon as I see your email.
Grace and peace be with you, now and always.
Your sister and your pastor, Gail