"I can do all things in him who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

My world was shaken when my husband died of a heart attack while we were shopping in a local mall, and I was totally unprepared for the emotional earthquake that followed. My husband was a minister and I was thrown into making decisions of where to live and work, what I would do with all the books and materials in his library and dealing with grief and loss at the same time. I did not want to think of packing for it meant goodbye to what had been; even trying to eat regular meals and the every day responsibilities of a house was too much. I wanted to withdraw from the world completely and be left alone with my misery. To learn to live once more without my husband was the hardest task I had to face.

Yet that is the very thing God requires of us in the hard times - to endure, to continue living among the living. Slowly, painfully, I learned to coy drawing strength from God, my family and friends and repeating every morning, "I can do all things in him who strengthens me."

Although we suffer trials and often feel squashed by the weight of sorrow, God is always close by, watching and caring. God knows and loves each of us and suffers with us, offering the strength to recover.

Prayer: Dear Father, grant us a sense of your presence and strength in the difficult times of our living as well as the good times. Amen.

Thought for the day: God Cares.

Judy Layne
Cumberland UMC
Cumberland, KY