Don't forget to see some of the good being accomplished in the midst of so much bad news.

Hello and welcome. It is Wednesday, April 8, 2020, and I bid each one a hearty hello from our dwelling to wherever you happen to be. These are tough times. One of the things I have been doing is to make a video each week to send out to family and friends. This includes those who are in our regular Bible study class. The idea behind the videos is to remind us all of God's sovereign control over all things and how this is true regardless of what we are experiencing. I'm including the video the wife and I made yesterday to share with my blog readers. We don't claim to be great singers but the song we shared invokes the reminder that we are Sheltered in the Arms of God. It was written by the late Dottie Rambo and it is a favorite of many who follow her music and Southern Gospel in general.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DZhqLHztkU

As this pandemic continues, I will tell you how impressed I have been with all the things moms and dads are coming up with for their children. Many share online their teaching approaches, crafts, and other ingenious activities they are doing to help engage their kids. I've heard many in ministry comment on some of the positive impacts this shutdown has had on family life. Many families have drawn closer because of necessity, but, it has created bonding that perhaps was not there before because of the busyness of everyone involved. Well, that busy schedule has been set aside and now parents do have time to be with their kids. To help them in their lessons. To play games. To have Bible studies and pray together as a family. Some have even said this almost seems miraculous given the obstacles that prevented it before. Sure, there's plenty of seriously bad stuff out there and there's probably more coming, however, I do thank it is worth praising God for the good that is being accomplished in all of the calamity. Amen.

I also know there are exceptions where financial stress and other factors have preceded new instances of domestic abuse. That is a sad thing to see happen. From the perspective of reaching out to and ministering to people, our local fellowship is seeing more folks viewing our services each week than we had attending on a regular basis. In addition to this development, our Sunday School groups are focused on keeping up with all of their members. Many are using electronic meeting programs to interact with their classes as well as to have sharing and prayer time. Our class is one of the older classes and many of them would not be able to join one of these types of electronic group meetings. That's one of the reasons I have been sending out a weekly video. Many do receive emails, therefore, they can click on the video link. We do have some that are not connected to the internet. We do our best to keep up with them by calling. My point? Our pastoral staff reports that all of this contacting and caring is the most in our history. This too is something good coming out of a very bad situation. I do hope you will be encouraged in knowing God is in control. Amen. .....More later.