April 20, 2013

This morning our Mission Blitz gets underway. We have been preparing for it for months, and yesterday the equipment and the materials arrived to package 150,000 meals in our gym. I will assist as needed, and then work in the nursery from 11 until 1. Tomorrow will be a great celebration.

There is clearly a frost on rooftops and lawns. Perhaps this will be the last frost of the season. I covered my two tomato plants to protect them. My blackberries are sprouting out with tender green shoots. I planted a hill of corn, mainly because I found a display of 33 cent seed packets at the grocery store yesterday. It will be sunny with highs in the 60s today.

Last night there was a dramatic conclusion to the manhunt for the men who planted the bombs at the Boston Marathon. One of the brothers had been killed in a shootout in the wee hours of yesterday morning, and the city of Boston was locked down for the day. At 8:45 pm the other brother was taken into custody, having been hiding in a boat in the backyard of a home just outside the 20 block area that had been searched house-to-house. There was a collective sigh of relief and appreciation for the efforts of law enforcement departments and personnel.

Leviticus 9 tells of Aaron and his sons getting to work, and the glory of the Lord appears among the people of Israel, gathered around the Tabernacle. The sacrifice on the altar is consumed by the fire which blazed forth from the Lord’s presence. The people saw this, shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground. Daily I am about the work God has assigned and directed. Today it is the mission blitz, in which hundreds of Wesley members and friends will invest in mission and ministry. Living in the presence of God is a blessing, and sometimes His presence blazes forth in observable ways.

Guide me today, most Holy Lord, as I serve you among your people in Springfield Missouri. May the words of my mouth, the work of my hands, and the connections of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, my strength and redeemer.