Dearest Daughter,

Never forget that it was Eli who bid dear Hannah not to bring her griefs and pains to God. Why will you hold onto the past dear woman? Many a man misunderstands the griefs of the woman who fears the Lord. Hophni and Phinehas alone are they who would bid those with deepest wounds to forget and let go. God has intentions of using the tears that cleanse His feet and the hair that wipes His toes to cleanse His Church. Vengeance belongs to God. Men may look unsympathetically at the eyes hollow with tears and the hair dischevelled because of the griefs that men have inflicted. God does not bid us to stuff it. He takes it all into His bosom and He will have Lazarus in His bosom at last and those who have counsel as Job's friends are usually misinformed. Cry to Jesus!

Isaiah 23

1 An oracle concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them. 2 Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched. 3 On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations. 4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken: "I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters." 5 When word comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre. 6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you people of the island. 7 Is this your city of revelry, the old, old city, whose feet have taken her to settle in far-off lands? 8 Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth? 9 The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth. 10 Till your land as along the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish, for you no longer have a harbor. 11 The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble. He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed. 12 He said, "No more of your reveling, O Virgin Daughter of Sidon, now crushed! "Up, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest." 13 Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin. 14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish; your fortress is destroyed! 15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: 16 "Take up a harp, walk through the city, O prostitute forgotten; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered." 17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothes.

Help us, Lord to look again to the merciful God who has granted us much grace and peace and safety and privileges. Fashion the sash of Your deliverance upon us and make us do those things that please You, in our families in our communities and in the country and world that You have blessed us with. Be consoled and comforted at souls, which were astray coming to faith in You. Many from Your people, Abraham's children, coming to true faith in Christ and teach us to live for You in our homes and churches. Be comforted that the heart of Your bride the Church longs to see Israel and Ishmael coming to faith in Jesus. Help us not to miss the purpose for Your Church upon the earth, for the distractions of political and personal and pet peaves. Amen.

I do remember the very first time I tried to serve overhand in volleyball.

I had, as a freshman and sophomore, made a name for myself with an underhand serve, which was quite effective. I had tennis muscles developed and they made my underhand serve very strong and deliberate. I aced the other team many times. One day, coach said lets see you try an overhand serve. okay, in practice. I used all of the motions that I had seen and the strongest fist and every single bit of strength in my body and the ball didn't even hit the net. Oh no! That is not me. I will never get on the court, if I can't serve. Keep going, you can do it. Not me. I was comfortable with my power shot. I had absolutely no muscles in my shoulder developed. Mr. T looked at me funny. He was calculating something. I am surprised that with your tough tennis serve that you are not able to serve overhand? I guess it is a different muscle. He sent me to a corner with Diane, who had a wicked overhand and had even developed a round house serve. Okay. I can be tutored. It was humbling for the powerful server to have to be tutored on serve, in front of everyone. When I got 10 balls to pop to the top of the wall, I was sent back to the court and trying it on the net. Out of 10 balls, I got maybe 2 over the net and just over. Once or twice in a game I was commanded to try overhand or invited, let me say. I missed it 2 times. No way am I going to give up my power on the court for a chic new style. "I have this underhand thing, please don't make me change." I remember using every muscle in my body and seeing the ball bloop over the net. What is the difference? Now, I can thread a needle{so to speak} and put it where I want and I have much more control and power, because of a gentle nudging hand and encouragement. We can do alot more than we think we can, with practice. Keep trying. Keep practicing. You will get it over the net.

The clouds looked like my daddy had cloud duty.

He seemed to be reminding me of my penmanship when I was in the 4th grade. I had to laugh at his reminding me of that. There were lines and scribbles and letters strewn over the sky, all of which were illegible. Look where you are now? We can read your handwriting? Yes Dad, we can and I giggled at the remembrance with him. Happy that we both seemed to survive the tumultuous journey into adulthood. I won't keep crying at the labor that I have to put into my little tribe. As Ruth always said "God bless the child..." that's got his own"

Children, I might add, are an inheritance of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward.