Sometimes attacks come when we least expect them. Actually, most of the time, that’s when they happen. This last week was no exception in my life. First, our air conditioner stopped working. Bad news for me because I am asthmatic and need the “canned air” to breathe. The repair was completed last Friday and we were able to finance having it done. Not part of the budget, but it’s done. The really good news is that the entire time our AC was down, there was a cool wave in Virginia so the house stayed comfortably cool, meaning I was able to breathe well without the stultifying humidity that makes me gasp. Thus, God blessed us even during this trial.

A few days ago, my son told me that he had received a letter from our grandson in boot camp. Isaac has Covid-19 and as a result has been moved out of his division into quarantine. We have no idea when he will graduate now, but we do know that it will be delayed until he is completely well and has been placed into a new division. I have no doubt that God is working in this situation to redeem it, just as he did with the petty annoyance of our air conditioning. In the meanwhile, I can’t write Isaac (no address, since it’s by division) or call him (no phones allowed), but what I can do is pray for him to be encouraged during this time of waiting.

I don’t know that this is a test of Isaac’s faith as much as it is a test of mine. I have prayed for him faithfully every day (several times a day) to be successful and protected in boot camp. And then…Covid. Well, God didn’t say bad things wouldn’t happen, but He did promise to be with us through them. So, like the rock pictured in the Scripture above, I want to rise above the circumstances and praise God for what He is doing and what He is going to do in this young man’s life, and in the lives of the multiple other seamen recruits who have the same malady. It will be a great day when I hear that he is restored to his training, but in the meantime, I hope that you will join me in prayer for him to be strong in his faith at this time. That reminds me about the small Bible that we gifted Isaac to take along with him to Great Lakes. I wanted to give him a Bible but I didn’t know if he would even appreciate having one along with him. He was raised in a home in which Bible reading is reserved for church time, so thus my reluctance. I read the brochure provided by the USN about items the recruits could/could not bring along with them. One of the things they were told not to bring was their phones (no phone numbers available to them) or books other than religious materials. They were allowed a pocket Bible only. Thus, on the last day that we visited with Isaac before he left, we went to a bookstore and I purchased a pocket Bible for him. He was a little leery about this gift until I showed him the blank pages that could be his address book for phone numbers for family and friends. He grinned at what he considered my duplicity and was happy to accept the gift, along with the addresses and phone numbers that I printed neatly inside for him. I was not at all being duplicitous, telling him that the Bible would serve two purposes, one to encourage him to read God’s Word and two, to have that information about loved ones handy. After all, he had not memorized any phone numbers because he always had them in his phone and just touched the number and it dialed. Now, he has both resources. Thus, when I write him letters and include a Scripture for him to read, he can refer to his new pocket Bible/address book. 😉

In the meantime, God continues to work in our lives and to work out His salvation within each of us. Sometimes the process we go through is painful, but we know that God is in control, even when our lives take unexpected detours. He is the God of the mountains and the valleys!

May your day be blessed with the revelation of God’s presence in your life and the knowledge that He is rescuing you and He will rescue you, over and over again.