Yesterday was fabulous! A morning sermon about how God gave us the gift of life, creating us male and female, then gave us the gift of marriage and the gift of children. For all the world wants to say that these are not good gifts or that God made His definitions of them too narrow, these are good, good gifts.

(And of course, God gave us our singles and our childless couples, too. He has a plan for every believer to be a part of His body).

After the morning service, Noel and I went for delicious Vietnamese food to celebrate Mothers’ Day and our 35th anniversary.

Then that evening a sermon from Psalm 23 on God’s tender shepherding of His people.

And a couple of surprises in there. When I texted my cousin Julie to tell her what a great mother she is and how we learned from the best, she immediately texted back a picture of my mother’s grave. She was standing there with her two granddaughters getting a picture of it for me when she received my text!!!!!

Then after I sent out Jacquie Lawson e-cards to many of my friends who are mothers, I received the sweetest note back from a former neighbor who moved away almost 20 years ago. When she lived here, she was my walking partner and my prayer partner. She has a son who was a prodigal back then. Yesterday she reminded me of how many times we prayed for him and how I prayed confidently that God would have a hand in his life. She told me yesterday that the prodigal had returned after many years of running from God and is married to a wonderful woman who encourages him in his walk. I had not realized how many times she was tempted to give up praying—she said yesterday that often I had to have faith for both of us. That is so humbling. Many times we do not know the pain in the deepest part of another’s heart.

We have had some powerful themes at Tab. We have done the Exchange. Now we are learning about making a difference in every aspect of life.

Thank you for making a difference to Noel and me.