The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4
In my nearly 80 years here on this planet, I have seen quite a lot. I sat in horror on December 7, 1941 listening to the news of the day. (We had just gotten home from church and were preparing for lunch.) My father was stationed in Manila, in the Philippines, since late summer ’41. For the next year or so, we, as a family lived with news about the Pacific theater of World War II. At the age of 10, I knew only that my father was in danger, and I didn’t know what to do. (At 10, you don’t pray out loud, but you do an awful lot silently.) In retrospect, the Lord was watching over our family, so that we could accept the news that came later. (He was a POW and later died.) The Lord provided us with the strength to continue, just like we were supposed to.
In later years, the Lord was with me during my time in the US navy; going back to school; and meeting the most beautiful lady in the world and with her help we raised a fine family of four children, and six grandchildren. In the process we moved to Raleigh, and years later, I (or should I say, we) retired and the Lord took over looking after my health. Through it all the Lord has been my guide and shepherd. He has seen me through some very major surgery and kept me around to test something else.
I’m not sure what the Lord wants from me, other than my complete love and devotion – which I gladly give. I am extremely grateful for all that the Lord has provided myself and my family.
