Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Plans I have for you – not for evil but to give you a future and a hope. In the last year and one/half I have clung to this promise. A future and a hope. My family and friends have joined in helping me to see that this could be possible.

But then as I read the news, I falter. I talk to my blind friend who is always upbeat but whom I know is slowly running out of funds. I pray for an ill friend and try to ignore the chair that stands by me but remains empty. I wonder, what is the future? What is our hope? Together we must join our hearts in helping to make this happen. 

Leaving church one morning, I looked down to see a small child clutching a blanket square grinning at me. My heart lifted. Later that same day, I was trying my best to make the heavy garbage can roll into the correct position. Suddenly the teenage girl across the street appeared at my side and easily moved the garbage can. At the library, a small boy held the door for me; I said "thank you, sir". He grinned widely and said, “Mama, she called me sir”. 

Where is our God in all of this? It is hard to search for goodness without thinking of God. But there are books in our Bible where all are slain or captured or destroyed.  Can this be what waits for us? What can we do? Open our eyes to see others. Recognize their problems, hold out a hand, band together, try to make life easier for someone. Listen to one another and actually hear one another. Pray together in place. Know in our hearts that God is here. Believe in the plans he has for us. As Pastor Thomas said one Sunday, “See one another with our hearts.” 

Carolyn Olsen