Hold On

April 23-24

There is something oh, so, precious about a child holding onto your finger and finding comfort.

Likewise, there is something very magical in how we can hold onto our faith in the Father and find peace and purpose in our place in life. The words "hold on" were playing over and over in my mind as I was praying, so I looked up verses on the topic. The story of Hagar, getting the boot out of Sarah's presence and having to hike to the wilderness with Ishmael, was among them. Read below as their wine skins are empty and Hagar cries out to the Lord in fear that her child will starve.

Let me not look on the death of the child." And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation." Then⁽God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Our compassions grow out of personal experience and I must say, my heart has ached this week and prayers have gone up for new mothers who have no support system. As that baby holds on to them, they too need to be held. Interestingly, as I headed out yesterday afternoon and early evening to give this little family some alone time here, again and again I came across young mothers who were at the end of their ropes. "I am going to blister your bottom," one mother resounded. "I can't take it any more, you are going to be spanked," another said as she pulled her daughter out of a dressing room in TJ Maxx. Motherhood is tough. I wondered how many of those moms were in a Bible study or had been trained to use the tool of prayer. I silently prayed for those moms yesterday, but could have easily given them some scripture cards, which I carry in my purse, to be able to pray over their children.

PT

Lord, help me be more obedient and "hands on" making a difference in some lives that are barely holding on! In Jesus' Name, Amen

This Easter weekend is different for us. We've been so busy babying that there are no baskets being filled (except diaper genies), no eggs being dyed, decorations adorning the house and no family pouring in for fellowship. There's a good chance we won't even make it to church tomorrow, but as my daughter said yesterday, "This Easter is all about God's gift of this baby."

He is already being trained up to love his Savior!