“If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.  And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

                                                                                                Esther 4:14

Thirteen years ago, I decided to take a short break from writing my daily devotional.  At that time, I was getting ready to move to another state to a pastor a different church.  I had a son graduating from high school and two little girls who had just started school.  And I was 47 years old.   Young, and in my prime.  (At least in my mind.)

The problem was, every time I thought about resuming the devotional, life kept getting in the way.  Church functions kept me busy all the time.  I was running little girls to school activities and theater every day.  Then my son graduated college and first we moved him to Connecticut, and then to Florida.  Then I had another bout with cancer, and I wrote a book about it.  Next my daughter went off to college, and then her sister did too.  Now, the oldest is graduating this spring, and the other one is getting ready to do a Youth Pastor residency. 

Oh yea.  I’m also 60 years old now.  Young is in the rearview mirror, and “prime” has been taken over by Amazon.  Sometimes I look at my wife and we both shake our heads at how fast time has a way of slipping by.  Or racing by.  At warp speed.

So, what is it that makes this the right time to resume my daily writing?  The Coronavirus has slowed life down for me.  I don’t have the virus; I just find myself in the high-risk category and have had to self-quarantine.  Over sixty – check.  Depressed immune system – check.  Breathing problems – check.  Except for the birthdays, all of it caused by radiation treatments all those years ago. 

That means I have a lot of time to spend alone with God and myself.  And listen.  And think.  And with the wisdom that comes with age (I know, the jury’s still out on that one in my case), I find myself thinking about things in a whole new light.  From a different perspective.  And writing helps me to process those thoughts, and at the same time hopefully trigger you to think about God’s presence in your life and in an ever-changing world. 

It’s good to be back.  I look forward to our time together every day.  And as always, I’d love to hear from you. 

“Father be with us as together we face the days that lie ahead.  Give us courage and strength and take away our fear and replace it with trust.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Grace,

Rev. Dan