Open hands

How can I express my inner feeling?  My mind, the very core of my heart is filled with emotion.  Today I am experiencing deep pain,  yet one filled with peace knowing that in my sadness God is sovereign and He is in control.  I identify with the psalmist when he writes: ‘As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God’.  
My pain is intertwined with joy; pain upon hearing my beloved Denisa has lost her battle with Leukaemia,  yet joy in knowing and loving her during the past six years.  Many of you have come to know Denisa through my blogs.  Words would be inadequate to express her fight for life; a young medical student with the hope of one day becoming a doctor to specialise in this field.  I was captivated by her sweet nature and personality as she threw out a net of love to all who knew her.  I have many memories of days we spent together, but one memory as she ran to meet me after finishing university for the day is engraved in my heart.  She was never downcast, always positive, flying to USA during the summer to seek further medical advice. She never gave up, rather kept on giving.
Her mother Lilianna was her constant companion. The depth of loss today is unimaginable; Denisa was her only child.  Denisa will be remembered by me personally for the great things she achieved in the memories of a heart that gave with great love if only for a short season. How soon Denisa’s season has passed.   
Lilianna, it is by faith we understand the reason why. I pray the Lord will be gracious to you and that as you wait in the quietness of your aching heart, He will minister unto you with His unfailing love. 
Shirley, 08 September, 2018
 

‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’ 
The secret of His presence has been my dwelling place during these hours as I have waited on news from Estera.   Slow drops of peace filled my cup accompanied by unlimited resources assuring me that the One who created such perfection of beauty in the earth, whose riches are unmeasurable, His blessings (even in times of distress) are mine for the taking. I have all I need ‘In Him’.
Encouraging news has been received regarding the Toma sisters.  God has been watching over them and they are slowly recovering; there is no danger regarding their lives.  One girl has been transferred from ICU and the other girl will be transferring to a ward within days.  The third sister who had her foot amputated is in a lot of pain even though on strong medication.
The heart of a father, a mother.  My own heart longs to reach out and touch this precious couple.  Their children are all in different hospitals (100 miles apart).  The mother remains at home to care for her son who has been in a coma for one year.  The father is with the youngest daughter in Timisora and the other sister who lost her foot is being cared for by a cousin.
A Romanian family in crisis, a family who are attending a Pentecostal church.    Things are very difficult for them and they need much prayer. They have expenses regarding travel and accommodation.  A greater need is the necessity of a PROSTHESIS for their daughter whose young life has been changed in a second.
Thank you for joining Tell Romania in prayer for these precious children.   Five little lambs from one family need our love and prayers.
I plan in the will of the Lord to personally visit this family in October – please pray this will be possible
Shirley 31 July, 2018
‘In the silences I make in the midst of the turmoil of life I have appointments with God.  From these silences I come forth with spirit refreshed, and with a renewed sense of power.  I hear a voice in the silences, and become increasingly aware that it is the voice of God’.
David Brainerd.
 
 

My Romanian friend Estera and I share a wonderful bond.  We are One in our love for ‘These My Little Ones.’ Our visits are special; we laugh together and we cry together. Our hearts hurt at times and today is one of those days. I have just received the most dreadful news.

(Image for illustration purposes only)

Estera organised the Emanuel Hospice Summer Camp – the current group were children who are very sick or who have gone through personal grief or who have parents or siblings who are terminally ill.   Four sisters from the Toma family, who are part of my Feeding Programme, enjoyed this past week in the mountains and were returning home last evening.
Everyone arrived safely in Oradea and the sisters were eagerly walking to the bus station longing to see their brother who had been hit by a car last year. Since then he has remained in a coma at home. No hospital care for him!
Suddenly out of nowhere a driver came up on the sidewalk at full speed and hit all four girls.  Full details are still not available but one girl is in intensive care in a hospital in Oradea and another girl is in intensive care in a hospital in Timisoara, a hundred miles away. A third sister, an eleven-year-old, has had her leg amputated and will be hospitalised for approximately one month.
There are no words, the needs are endless.  We cannot comprehend the reason why but we place our tears, our hurting heart with the One who knows the end from the beginning.
I love these children; I love the family God has so gracious given to me.  Please join with me in prayer, holding these precious little darlings in your hearts.  They are already in the hollow of His hand.
Shirley

Turning the key in the door, no familiar ‘Hello’ could be heard, instead quietness.   The only sound I heard was that of the clock in the entrance hall striking 1 pm.   Yes 42 B will be a lonely place for the next ten days.  As my husband turned and waved ‘Goodbye’ entering Belfast International Airport, emotion filled my heart; again I cannot go to the land I love, again I am alone.   Enough Shirley, a hot cup of coffee perhaps?
As I sipped my coffee, I began to count my blessings. God’s provision for us as a couple, the blessings we can find by being involved in human relationships, young or old.  Friendship; Kindness; Serving in love ….. My thoughts turned to Da Da, so young yet longing for someone just to listen.  A quiet and timid little girl who has encountered so much ‘silent suffering’ in her five years, she is very sick. Andrada was diagnosed with leukaemia at an early age and recently underwent a bone marrow transplant – she has relapsed and is back in Timisoara where they hope to repeat the procedure with her mother being the donor – the comparability is only 50%.  We all like to be comforted when alone or just to be understood, so what can I give to this little darling whose smile still lives in my heart as we played last summer with play doh. I can give my heart in prayer, comfort and in faith that He who said ‘Suffer the little ones to come … will come beside Da Da and hold her hand during these next frightening days in the life of a five year old.
Kevin has now commenced his three months of preparation for the first of many surgeries to correct his twisted legs and feet. He too has an amazing smile and sent a picture to the lady in Ireland proudly displaying both legs in plaster cast, complete with air planes, trains, cars drawn on them.  A nine year old boy who has known nothing only one terminal illness after another, yet he continues to smile.  Can we walk together, committing ourselves in prayer for these two little ones?
Emanuel Hospice Summer Camp commences on Monday. Estera is planning to call with Dr. Moore before leaving for the mountains.  Many children will attend, excited as they arrive in a bus!  A first for many.  The children are comprised of sick children, their siblings, children who have a parent or brother/sister with advanced cancer.  The loneliness of many hurting hearts, please pray each child will feel special and feel the love and compassion of this amazing team.  Tell Romania are privileged to walk beside the work of Emanuel Hospice and Casa Grace ministries.  We are one ‘In Him’.
The lives we touch know only sadness, their days are filled with doubt, fear.  Their hearts are longing for love, interludes of assurance. Love has a tremendous drawing power, it attracts people your way.  Let us love with all of our heart entrusting ‘ALL’ into His care and keeping.
I leave you this thought from Elisabeth Elliott : ‘If all struggles and sufferings were eliminated, the spirit would no more reach maturity than would the child’.    
Shirley, 21 July, 2018 
A Personal Request:
Please remember my husband on this extensive mission trip.   He has heard the call and is endeavouring to go in His name knowing that there is a simplicity in God’s  plan.   We both hold fast to God’s promise for the various works in Romania, Budapest, Bucharest, Moldova …..
As a wife, I pray these days will be special days of illumination and challenge, knowing that the One who calls us – remembers us.
 

Shirley received this wonderful newsletter today from Monika in Romania and wants to share it on her blog. Thank you for praying for this ministry.
CASA Grace – july 2018

 Isaiah 28: 28 ‘Grain must be ground to make bread’ 

1. R. Miller writes: ‘Many of us cannot be used as food for the world’s hunger, because we have yet to be broken in Christ’s hands. “Grain must be ground to make bread”, and being a blessing of His often required sorrow on our part.  Yet even sorrow is not too high a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with Christ’s blessings.  The things that are most precious to us today have come to us through tears and pain’.

As I sat quietly musing on these words I wondered how much I knew or had experienced grinding or  brokenness or the changing scenes of life, atmospheres that drive so many lives into the depths of despair?  Every walk of life differs one from the other. I was alone with my thoughts and seemed to remain quiet for a long time – I am sensitive to the change in my own life yet driven with a peace I have never experienced before.  There is an awareness I need to be emptied of self and filled with a burning desire to serve, knowing that whatever the Lord may require, I am safe, secure; that in the stillness He is moulding me into a vessel of His choice. ‘He leadeth me beside the waters of quietness’. Psalm 23: 2. I brought to mind the spiritual giants who knew the secret of contentment in all circumstances. I may not have been stoned, beaten, bruised, forsaken … but I knew the pain of loss and the deafening silence of being ‘alone’.
Many sit behind a closed door and it is winter in their lives in and out of season – there is a constant desert place rooted deep within.   A desert of grief, troubled mind, sickness … Many bury the thorns of life in their broken heart. They have no sunshine in their garden of life. Love can be given quietly, discretely and so I want to ‘tip toe’ into the lives of those whose rose petals fall to the ground and are crushed.
‘Lord, I will’;  ‘Lord I would, but…’. The Shepherd must go before me and I need to stop pushing ahead.   Slow steps in quietness for He has promised that He wilt keep in ‘perfect peace whose mind…’  Have I displayed an act of devotion, compassion for others as found in the heart of my faithful Shepherd? Oswald Chambers penned: ‘ I have not done what I could until I have done the same’. 
‘Still Waters’ is a new development within Tell Romania.  A place where primarily souls from Romania can be soothed as they feel and know our love as the dew found on a morning rose. A new Pemberton Rivington Caravan (Portstewart) is being fully equipped to be a quiet place of renewal and recovery.  Our Lord is always thinking of our needs. My prayer is that everyone we touch here at home or travelling from Romania will know that all they need can be found ‘In Him’. Their cares should be mine; their sorrows should be mine.  Support us in prayer in this new outreach. Will you walk this new path with me and know the true meaning of the words found in Matthew 17: 27 ‘For Me and Thee’. Turn the key of prayer with me to this new door of service. 
The disappointments of life are simply the hidden appointments of love’.  C.A. Fox  
The Lord Jesus commanded us to serve one another.  As I think of His humility, I think of those I love in the land of my adoption whose faces came before me as I read Daria’s words. ‘Sister Shirley, everyone who knows you asks me about you; Nelu’s family is saying Hello …’    David is continuing his treatment and his tumour seems smaller, the C T Scan is scheduled for October.  Oh how I miss my friends.  Only 13% is covered by the Health Insurance House in Romania for the work of Emanuel Hospice yet this vision has remained a reality for twenty two years.
Many of you have been praying for little Kevin (9) both legs/feet twisted, with doctors offering no hope of Kevin becoming a ‘normal boy’. After nine years a new doctor in another town is hoping to improve his condition.  Kevin will wear a cast on each leg for the next three months. Many surgeries will follow.  Remember my little friend who shouted as I left ‘Lady will you come back and see me?’  I hope I will!
Simona (37) advanced throat cancer with a beautiful little girl (Dora (3).  Pray with us as a  team that the Lord will open Simona’s heart to His wonderful gift of salvation. Pray for little Dora who is very fearful, Thankfully two volunteers spend time with her but there is a greater need in this family.
Summer Camp for Casa Grace and Emanuel Hospice is approaching – pray as the terminally ill, orphans, disabled and abandoned children receive love and care that they will feel safe and special.
Whisper Denisa and Adam in your prayers just now. – There is strength to be found in waiting.
Shirley 5 July 2018
 

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane, and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.  Isaiah 41:17-20.
I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them.  I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.  These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16.
To love is to feel, to express, to identify that ‘inner pull’ of loving those that others pass by. To love even one, the rejected with no one to care whether they live or die, the burdens of each day weigh so heavy they are a slave to the fear of tomorrow.  They have no resource of strength, no will to live, their heart longs for someone, somewhere to care.  I ask myself: ‘Can I wrap my arms around the homeless? Do I care enough to wipe their tears?’   Matthew 6: 28 ‘And why take ye thought …?’  
‘I came to Jesus, and I drank Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, And now I live in Him.’ 
Life for ‘The Moore’s’ has changed –  we stand in awe of God’s provision and the sense of inner peace that we are where we should be ‘For Such A Time As This’.  A change of direction (for me personally); relocation.  There is an immense power to be found in ‘Standing Still’.  I failed in trying to analyse circumstances so I ceased trying replacing struggles of restlessness with trusting in the silence.  Still waters speak of a place of quiet rest and in the near future I will share with you a new work the Lord placed upon my heart.  I have proved that the Lord works where He sends us to wait.
The drought of suffering and weariness continues: my friend Ana lost her battle with terminal cancer.  Two days before she died, I received a picture of her two small children holding her hand in hospital. They had come to say ‘Goodbye’ to their beloved Mum before entering foster care.  I remember the smile on Ana’s face as she received two back-packs for her children; her quiet ‘thank you’ said it all.  ‘Even for One’.  Thank you Ana for teaching me the true meaning of humility.   Our love for the Lord should also be clearly expressed by our love and  compassion for others.  We must be practical in our love by being ‘interested’, ‘involved’ in the lives of other people.  And so I would ask you to continue to remember  the work of the Emanuel Hospice Team.  Two new patients need our prayers:  Mrs Kiss (38) suffering from lung cancer (with a baby son aged two).  Mrs Copil (35) suffering from throat cancer (also with a little one aged three).  Please continue to pray for baby Adam (six months) whose Mother (Julianna) died a few weeks ago.  Our Lord had a special place in His heart for all the ‘little ones’ and we pray His ever watchful eye will watch over all these orphans as we place them into His hands of love and protection.
The team of Casa Grace need our prayerful support as daily they reach out and touch emotionally disturbed lives. There are two new families entering our feeding programme: A grandmother (67) caring for her emotionally disturbed granddaughter abandoned by her Mother. They are so poor they live in a converted garage. Our aim is to help the granddaughter throughout her teenage years and to offer assistance to the grandmother. The little girl is very talented in music but lacks and longs for one thing – ‘LOVE’.   The second family entering our programme consists of a beautiful little girl (6). Her mother left the family home leaving this little one who was only five months, in the care of her father who is totally paralysed.  An elderly neighbour helps take care of the little one – they live on £20 per week. The giants of difficulty trample these situations into the ground.  Human frailty, lack of assurance of love; and yet, ‘There is hope’.  The Lord is my helper.  Will you join me in my call of love for these little ones? Will you help me introduce them to our Friend, the One who is closer than our very breath? We have One who can do the exceptional – His strength is always perfect for every day.
Sister Gaby and the team of Iochebed in Suceava continue to support young and old who knock on the door seeking help with basic needs of food, clothing, desperate situations of poverty and suffering.  One young lady new to the programme was so distraught because she had no home and was living with an Aunt.  ‘Stop’ signs at each junction, every door closed, her only thought was to give her daughter away as she had no money to feed her. She was surrendering her most treasured possession because of ‘LOVE’. Thank you for helping us with our feeding programme as we have offered support to both mother and baby.
Real people, real situations, painful experiences.  Love binds all wounds. We give glory to the Lord for allowing us to enter these lives and through love change situations of hopelessness into avenues of hope ‘In Him’.
I end by sharing an update on my dear and precious friend Denisa.  It is four years since my first introduction to Denisa and the memory of that first encounter is as vivid as it it were yesterday.  Many miles have been travelled, many mountains climbed, but this mountain is high and has brought us all to our knees before the Lord as we have been quietly seeking His face for the way forward.  Now is the time to share with you that Denisa is hurting just now – so many unanswered questions.  Please pray with me that she may know the true meaning of John 14:1 ‘Let not your heart be troubled …
Denisa has been battling with Leukaemia since the age of thirteen.  After receiving chemotherapy and radiation, Denisa’s cancer went into remission for a few years.  Then in senior high school came the devastating news – her cancer had returned.  Treatment was administered, resulting in another term of remission.  She went on to study, graduating from High School with top honours and entered Medical School where it is her desire to become a Physician.  2014 brought further devastating news – again the cancer had returned.  Denisa placed her education on hold and underwent another term of treatment – again resulting in remission. When she suffered a recurrence of the cancer, It was recommended to her that she explore the possibility of various treatments in Milano, Italy as the next step.  During  2015 a bone marrow transplant (her mother being the donor) was performed.  Denisa returned to medical school to continue her education. 
For the fourth time in her young life Denisa has had to face the return of her cancer with masses being present in a few areas of her body.  The physicians in Milano, Italy have notified her they have no other treatment options available. Denisa is not ready to give up her fight to live. She personally had her medical records translated into English and sent them to several top cancer centres in America.  After reviewing her records. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, has agreed to evaluate Denisa on 24^th June, 2018 with the view to offering treatment options. Denisa leaves for USA on 19^th June, 2018.
 Unfortunately Romanian Insurance is not valid in America. Denisa is trying to raise funds to cover the initial cost of travelling, accommodation,  evaluations and treatments. The Lord is able to supply this need and we ask you to remember this amazing young lady. Hold her close in heart and prayer, praying that the Lord will be glorified in the life of Denisa and that she will know His power, His presence, His touch in a very personal way.
 May we all be willing to be broken before Him, poured out in love, in our service to others for His glory.  How privileged we are to serve together as one with Emanuel Hospice, Casa Grace Foundation, Iochebed and seeking to meet individual needs  Please continue to walk with us, to support us in prayer. I can personally testify to the Power of Prayer.
My heart has been touched by your remembrance of me during these months.  Thank you for your love and prayers.  God knows the end from the beginning – we are placed where we should be according to His plan and purpose.  He knows my heart; He knows my name; I am His and I am loved and held securely in the palm of His hand.
Shirley, 09 June, 2018

Last evening I wrote:

Julianna (37) who has a baby of six months (Adam). Her cancer has progressed aggressively during the past four months affecting her gallbladder/liver with recent development of total metastases. She is now in the terminal stages. Who will care? Who will go?

In contact with Dr. Beni Paul early this morning I learned Juliana lost her battle with cancer. Her funeral is on Friday. Please hold the family of Julianna close in heart. Baby Adam (6 months) has no Mummy to cradle him in her arms; remember this little one. Today their burden is overwhelming; may they hear that soft and gentle whisper ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’. What an assurance for the future days of Baby Adam. We leave Julianna in the arms of a merciful God.

The work of the Emanuel Hospice is intensive – seventy-two patients have gone into Eternity since January. These dedicated brothers and sisters of the Hospice staff need our prayers too as they seek to minister to the physical, emotional and above all spiritual needs of the ill and dying.

Thank you for praying.

Shirley

Plans; Projections; Attention to detail; Things to do list – we gain a sense of satisfaction carefully planning every step, dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ‘t’.  BUT what if our perfect plan crumbles in this broken world of uncertainty?
As I watched the 40ft lorry leave for its journey to Romania on Friday, (my husband following the next day), I thought “another journey” but then life is a journey at any age:  forty; fifty; sixty or nearing our three score years and ten?  How quickly the years pass – one moment and life is gone.  This morning my heart was melted as I reminded myself of the faithfulness of God, how undeserving I am of such love, such friendship. Acceptance of this change has made me  realise that as a garden needs tending, watering – so did I. My head was drooping under the emotion of pain and suffering I encountered. I needed to be watered, but this change of direction is not retirement; it is a new beginning.  He has brought me ‘safe thus far.‘ How precious those words are to me ‘thus far‘.  My heart is no longer mine. In total surrender to His perfect plan and timing, I want to love those who journey day by day bowed down with brokenness.  ‘I know the plans I have for you …’   ‘Lord, kindle the light of your fire of love, slowly, in small steps of faith.  Deut: 7: 9 ‘Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God …’ C. H. Spurgeon wrote: ‘Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened.’                       
The faithfulness of God is as fresh as the air we breathe.  It is easy for me each morning to ‘switch’ on the central heating, to relax in the comfort of a loving home. I have food enough, clothes …… but then these things are a normal part of living ?  Do I  remember to count my blessings; to consider that the things I take for granted are not so for everyone? My eyes must be open to see, my ears open to listen, my heart open not just to live for myself but thoughtfully for others.
I am so blessed, so thankful to the Lord for those who have thoughtfully given to this recent project. The hours of dedication and involvement in the lives of people they will never meet yet cared enough to give from a heart of love. Guided by the unseen footprints of our silent companion whose guidance in all decisions causes us to understand life from His perspective.  Our every day choices teach us to love as He loves.  The forgotten of Cighid, the unloved, unwanted orphans, Casa Grace Foundation, Emanuel Hospice and Iochebed in Suceava.  Thank you to EVERYONE who made this JOURNEY OF HOPE a reality.  There is no substitute for service, to serve together with an undivided heart as Unto Him.
Small tokens of His faithfulness:   This morning my husband is hosting another International Conference in Emanuel University.  The Letters to Timothy and Titus have already been translated into Romanian and given as a gift to all Romanian Pastors.  New every morning …… a request this morning,  ‘Dr Moore we hear a Hungarian translation is soon to be released, please can we have a translation in the Russian language?’.  How can we grasp the mind of the one who created us?  The depth, breadth, height, width of His plan of action in His time and placement.  Knowing the heart of God is so important, becoming aware of where we are in His plan, recognising that ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher that your ways …‘ Isa 55: 9.
Deep in thought this morning I found myself scanning the horizon, the mountains, the sky. The wonder of God’s Perfect Plan of Creation overwhelmed me.  I often come before the Lord with special requests yet go away pondering, thinking in my mind will I succeed; will that happen?  ‘Come Unto Me‘, outstretched hands offering to carry our burdens, words of rest, of comfort.  The many jewels I treasure in my beloved Romania come to mind. I ask you to prayerfully remember Denisa, her heart is filled with anxiety these days, please pray for her.  David, the young son of my friend Dorena (called home last summer) needs our loving and prayerful concern for his condition just now.  The number of patients requiring palliative care increases.  Eight patients between the ages of  35 – 45; a very special grace required for Julianna (37) who has a baby of six months (Adam). Her cancer has progressed aggressively during the past four months affecting her gallbladder/liver with recent development of total metastases. She is now in the terminal stages.  Who will care?  Who will go? Dami (15) diagnosed with leukaemia. He commenced chemotherapy, but lately he was not feeling well and remained in ICU for a few days. Pray for him and his family! Robi, (18) diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 13. He has relapsed and recommenced chemotherapy. At present his immune system is very low, his chemotherapy cannot continue. He will require a Bone Marrow Transplant in Italy. Victor (2) an adorable little boy!. He is in a foster family and has been diagnosed with leukaemia. His foster mum takes care of him and stays with him in hospital. She has a son the same age as little Victor. All these children are helped through the feeding programme as well!  ‘Come Unto Me’
C,H. Spurgeon wrote:
‘No stars gleam as brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky. No water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand. And no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs through adversity. Tested faith brings experience. You would never have believed your own weakness had you not needed to pass through trials. And you would never have known God’s strength had His strength not been needed to carry you through.‘

 ‘If we could see beyond today as God can see’,  ……’  A beautiful hymn, yet how many of us know the true meaning of the last refrain? ‘We cannot see what lies before, and so we cling to Him the more’. 

I found it difficult to watch my husband leave alone for Romania, in what seemed a longer mission trip.  Waiting, remaining behind again?  But these days draw us nearer to His presence, assuring us that ultimately the One who controls all our delays is holding us in Higher Hands.  As I closed the door of B5, the silence was deafening, someone was missing!  My thoughts turned immediately to those for whom this is normal.  We question circumstances, situations  without realising that these can be precious days of proving the extent of His love for us through our personal relationship with Him.  ‘Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?’ Job 38: 22-23.  A storehouse filled with resources, reserves sufficient for each day – where instead of questioning, His overshadowing presence calms our hearts, our longing, our quietness.  John Henry Jowett wrote ‘God comforts us not to make us comfortable but to make us comforters’.  May we always make time for others.

 ‘If we could see beyond today as God can see’,  ……’  A beautiful hymn, yet how many of us know the true meaning of the last refrain? ‘We cannot see what lies before, and so we cling to Him the more’. 

I found it difficult to watch my husband leave alone for Romania, in what seemed a longer mission trip.  Waiting, remaining behind again?  But these days draw us nearer to His presence, assuring us that ultimately the One who controls all our delays is holding us in Higher Hands.  As I closed the door of B5, the silence was deafening, someone was missing!  My thoughts turned immediately to those for whom this is normal.  We question circumstances, situations  without realising that these can be precious days of proving the extent of His love for us through our personal relationship with Him.  ‘Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?’ Job 38: 22-23.  A storehouse filled with resources, reserves sufficient for each day – where instead of questioning, His overshadowing presence calms our hearts, our longing, our quietness.  John Henry Jowett wrote ‘God comforts us not to make us comfortable but to make us comforters’.  May we always make time for others.