Holly's a generous and gracious friend. She hosted a fun and different kind of party the other day, for a few moms, their kids, a couple of grandmas. We brought food snacks and home baked cookies. Holly supplied toiletries and “flat rate” boxes from the post office.
She sat the children at a long dining room table with paper, pencils, and crayons, and a list of the names of a dozen soldiers. They selected a name and began writing: “Dear Fred” or “Dear Victoria” (yes, there are women serving) telling who they were, what school grade they were in, and thanking the soldiers for serving.
The youngest drew crayon pictures. Maybe they’ll decorate a soldier’s barracks somewhere.
While the kids wrote, we packed the treat boxes, which we hoped would help the soldiers feel loved and cared for.
Some moms at the party support the war, some do not. But we all care about the men and women so far from home, so distant from the sanity of life without ambushes and hidden explosives.
A couple of days later, Holly took a dozen filled boxes to the post office. She sent each one with a prayer for the protection, good judgment, peace of mind, and safe return of the soldier whose name was on the box.
The 91st Psalm, that wonderful song of safety and protection and trust in God’s care includes this promise – that God will deliver us from the snare of the fowler.
3,000 years ago trappers of birds set snares and carefully hid them under dust to capture unwary fowls. Even though that song-writer could not know about the hidden snares of the 21st century, the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs ), the same God can be leaned on to deliver from harm today.
As those care boxes fly across the Atlantic, I too pray for the safety of these men and women. That they hear the angel voices that warn them of danger and guide them on safe routes; that even in the chaos of war they find comfort and peace of mind.
I pray for the people of Iraq and Afgahnistan too, that they find the same comfort, the same care and protection from a loving God who is impartial in his goodness.
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I will say of the Lord,
He is my refuge and my fortress, my God
on Him I lean and rely,
and in Him I confidently trust.
For then He will deliver you
from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
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Do you have any loved ones in harms' way? How do you pray for them?
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