Participants: Rita Martin, Kathy Matthews, Charles Martin
Series Code: TAH
Program Code: TAH000167
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00:30 Welcome to "Thinking About Home."
00:32 I'm Kathy Matthews. 00:33 And I'm glad you're back with us again. 00:35 Today our guests are gonna be Charles and Rita Martin. 00:38 They are Bible workers in Minnesota. 00:41 And they have quite a story on walking by faith 00:46 and not by side and it's about a son of theirs. 00:49 And I'm going to let them introduce that son. 00:52 But first I want you to meet them, Charles and Rita, 00:55 thanks for being with us. It's our pleasure. 00:57 I'm glad you're here. 00:58 You had a little trip didn't you? 00:59 Yes, It's not an easy thing to get down from Minnesota. 01:03 But I've done that kind of trip in worse weather then, 01:07 then we have at the moment 01:10 and sometimes met blizzards and so forth. 01:13 But it's not that way right now. I wanted to invite you here 01:18 because you have a really, really unique story on 01:20 how the Lord has gotten you through, right? Amen. 01:24 A terrible thing that's happened in your life, 01:27 and I've thought the viewers would really appreciate. 01:32 Just the grace of God working in your life 01:34 and how that he got you through this 01:36 and we were together in some classes. 01:41 Tom was in class with you wasn't he? Charles. Yes. 01:44 And there was something that happened at that time 01:49 and I will just let you takeover from there. 01:52 What, what hit your life at that time? 01:55 We were attending Mission College of Evangelism 01:59 in the Black Hills. And we, we came to 02:05 what we're about two weeks in at the program 02:08 and got a call in the night. Yes. They had said 02:12 that our son had been in a, in a very bad accident, 02:15 extremely bad and asked us to, to come to South Bend, Indiana 02:20 immediately if wanted to see him alive... 02:22 Oh! Is that right. And your, your son name is? 02:24 His name is Matthew, he was 24 years old. 02:26 I remember, I remember when you got that call, 02:28 it was just all of a sudden you were gone the next day. 02:30 And everybody was wondering where is Matthew, 02:32 where is Rita and Charles. And it was a sad thing. 02:36 There's a lot of prayers going on for you, 02:37 what happened then? 02:39 Well, we of course, drove through the night, 02:41 we tried to get an airline ticket 02:43 and couldn't get there any sooner then driving. 02:45 so we drove whole night long. 02:47 And whenever we'd call the hospital, they'd keep saying 02:50 when are you going to be there. Are you still on your way? 02:55 Yes. And when we arrived at the hospital we, 02:58 we discovered that Matthew had, had been in a very 03:02 traumatic head injury besides his legs broken a very badly 03:07 and they couldn't even operate on them. 03:09 They were, they were so bad, but this head injury 03:13 had caused 17 bruises to the brain 03:15 and that was a shear injury. Not like you would just hit one 03:19 on the front or something, it was like hitting on the front 03:23 and then maybe to the back and over there side 03:25 in fact the other. Oh! I see, I see. 03:26 He hit a van that was parked in a turning lane and, 03:31 It was parked, it wasn't moving on? 03:34 It was actually turning in this turning line 03:36 and he wandered over into that lane and collided with it 03:40 and then another car hit him from the rear 03:42 and spun him around. So it's a two car accident. 03:46 Oh I see, and what were you feeling Rita, 03:49 all at this time? 03:51 Well, I was it was one of those days 03:54 when we got the news were we had been out at 3:30 03:56 that morning in prayer time. 03:58 You know, we had joined this school of evangelism 04:01 and most of the students were younger than us, Kathy. 04:05 I know, they were. And we felt the pressure 04:07 of keeping up in those days and we're unwilling to 04:11 let go our morning prayer time. And so to do that, 04:14 we had gotten up at 3:30 that morning. 04:17 And found our refuge in Him and we're so grateful 04:23 that we had had that have that walk especially that morning, 04:26 an extra special time with him. But as that news came 04:29 that night we were just falling into bed exhausted 04:32 for the day. Yes. And so when we left 04:34 on the trip we were sort of in a days. 04:38 I'll let you tell honey the experience 04:40 with the prayer closets. 04:42 When we arrived at Black Hills 04:44 we, we saw that the closets for married student 04:47 housing were huge. And we said, 04:49 this is the best opportunity for prayer we've had. 04:52 In a closet, is that where you going? 04:55 And yes and we're asking the Lord every, every night 04:59 before I went to bed. Lord, wake us at the time 05:01 that you would have us to, to wake up. 05:03 And you know, it was almost invariably that was 3 or 3:30 05:08 in the morning that we would get up and we realized later 05:11 that He was preparing us, for what was to come ahead. 05:14 And, and so it seemed to the moment 05:18 when we would stumble out the closets, 05:19 sometimes it will be an hour later 05:21 and we're having the most dynamic prayer life of our lives 05:23 Really. 05:25 And so when this news came 05:26 about the accident, I can't describe the peace 05:30 that washed over us. It was, it was not ourselves, 05:34 I've been a lot of situations were a huge wave 05:37 would roll over you and you just about to crumble. 05:40 But it wasn't so in this case. The Lord had prepared 05:42 us for this. And said, I'm gonna be there 05:44 and I'm gonna hold you through the whole thing. Amen. 05:47 And as we, as we receive this news, we hung up the phone 05:50 and we just had this overwhelming urge 05:54 that we would kneel down and laid us before the Lord 05:58 and as we did, we said Lord we want to give you 06:01 thanks for this. And it seemed like a strange 06:03 thing to be saying. We wanna thank You, 06:06 for whatever you have in mind for this. 06:08 And it felt so right to be doing that. 06:12 And though we had a lot of anxiety and so forth 06:17 wanting to see him before anything happened. 06:19 we, you know, through the night it would even call 06:23 people and ask them to pray with us. 06:25 Some spiritual friends we had and so forth 06:27 as we rolling along with our cell phone going down the road. 06:30 Yet that was this abiding peace that was through the whole thing 06:34 That started from the very beginning? 06:36 It was an undercurrent. 06:37 The grief, the grief is there. We had to feed the little girls. 06:41 It came like waves almost in the new 06:43 the peace would push it back down or... 06:45 We had to concentrate on our family. 06:48 With us our little eight-year-old and five-year-old 06:50 we had to feed them. We weren't hungry 06:51 but we would stop at grocery store and I remember 06:53 separating a list, you take a few things 06:56 and I will and we'll go get this done 06:58 so we can get back on the road. 07:00 And as we wandered through the grocery store there, 07:02 we found each other again 07:03 both empty handed and just stood in the middle 07:06 of the grocery store and held each other and cried 07:08 because we couldn't concentrate. 07:10 So there is an undercurrent of deep grief 07:12 and yet there is a peace, I can't explain. 07:15 Were there any special scriptures 07:16 that we're just really ministering to you at that time? 07:21 One especially thinking of joseph's experience. 07:24 Really. When in Genesis 50:20, 07:27 where it talks about Joseph being realizing 07:31 that God meant it for good, it doesn't seem good, 07:35 it doesn't feel good, it doesn't feel right 07:38 but you have this overriding abiding peace 07:40 that the God means it for good. And good can come out 07:43 of anything that happens to us. 07:46 Was there any other scripture that were really 07:48 special to you at the time? 07:50 Yes, Isaiah 26:3 was this very special one 07:54 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, 07:56 whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusted in thee. 08:01 You know, you haven't told us much about Matthew himself. 08:04 You wanna give us some insight as to what kind 08:07 of a young man he was? 08:09 He was a delightful, delightful boy 08:12 He was very special to my heart. 08:14 When he was little, he had a passion for sharing 08:18 his faith with everybody and he had a tackle 08:22 about that we would hear in the house, 08:25 we would know that he was having fun 08:27 at someone else's expense. 08:30 Yes, he really had a heart 08:33 for spiritual things from a very young age, 08:36 and a desire to share his faith wherever he went. 08:39 And I think that's what ultimately let him 08:41 to make the decision to go to Black Hills 08:45 and to become Bible worker and later take 08:48 the pastoral training. And also what inspired us 08:51 in many ways to do you know, wanna make that same decision. 08:55 So he was the inspiration to you going there? Yes. 08:59 Now I didn't learned that right way I didn't realize 09:01 that he had been there. I didn't know that 09:03 you had other family members going there. 09:06 When this all happened of course you just 09:08 you're learning some things about the books relating to 09:12 and you kind of got the Bible work in your family 09:15 it sounds like. In your blood so to speak. 09:18 Yes, very much so. And those few others 09:20 that you sponsored, didn't you? To there I thought so, 09:23 so it was. Well, you know, Rita, 09:29 there was a heavy two weeks afterwards 09:32 or a heavy couple of weeks afterwards, what happened 09:35 when the accident was over and, can you tell us about that? 09:39 Well, we had heard about the accident and had gone 09:42 to be with Matthew, we found our son 09:43 in a very deep coma and began to share hours. 09:48 We have a blended family, Matthew is my step son 09:52 and so we began to share hours with his birth mom, 09:55 who is there also of course. And I think they gave us 09:58 about four hours a daily to to share, and so we would go 10:01 and pray with him though he didn't appear 10:04 to be conscious in anyway. He wasn't conscious 10:07 we prayed with him, saying to him and shared 10:10 some very beautiful moments there with him. 10:12 Who were you then, who was this one? 10:14 We were in South Bend, Indiana, 10:16 where he had the accident. I see, in the hospital 10:19 it was just. Yes, he was in ICU unit there. 10:22 And, and his mother was there to you. Yes. 10:25 His birth mom had gotten there just before we did. 10:30 One of this special things about this time was feeling lead 10:34 to have an anointing right away. And not necessarily 10:37 an anointing that he would be healed, 10:40 but an anointing to know Gods will. 10:42 And one of our special friends who had been a pastor 10:47 when we lived in Newcastle, Wyoming came down for that. 10:50 I know who you're talking about. I think. 10:53 Well Pastor James Mitchell. Yeah, I know who that is. 10:55 And he graciously agreed to come down and be with us, 11:00 had all the family down on the chapel praying. 11:04 We really had beautiful anointing service together 11:07 and laid ourselves before the Lord and we, 11:11 as we were talking in the chapel there I personally 11:14 believe I had all the faith necessary to believe 11:17 that if it was God's will that he could may raise Matthew 11:20 and send him to the wedding on time, 11:22 if that's what was needed. And, and also we had given up 11:27 to the Lord where we would be willing to lay him 11:29 in the grave. If that's what he desired also, 11:32 that is not our choice. You know Rita 11:35 and I were talking about that on to way out, 11:37 and I said I know that, that it's not his will that 11:41 he would linger on and maybe be in a semi comatose state 11:45 or vegetative or anything that could never be God's will. 11:48 Sometimes we try to box him in, don't we? 11:50 Yes, yes. in what His desire are 11:52 and try to tell him what they are. 11:55 Right. 11:56 One of the text that mean lot to us is Ephesians 3:20 12:01 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly 12:05 above all that we ask or think according to the power 12:07 that worketh in us. And we really, 12:13 you know wanted to avail ourselves of that power. 12:17 We know that there is power in that name, 12:20 but the Lord didn't chose to heal Matthew in that, 12:22 in that service and nor did He chose to wake him out 12:27 of his sleep or lay him in the grave. 12:30 But... So you're having to deal with many things 12:33 that you were discussing in the car? 12:35 Yeah, there was a calm assurance that he had given us 12:38 that verses this morning that day and that he indeed 12:41 would do exceeding abundantly above all 12:43 that we asked or thought. 12:45 Didn't know exactly who was gonna do it? 12:47 We didn't know who, when or why. 12:49 Yeah, right. 12:51 Another scripture that meant a great deal to us was James 1:2. 12:56 It says, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall 12:59 into diverse temptations. 13:00 How did you do that? 13:01 I mean, what did you pull out of that scripture that 13:04 was the point for you? What's neat about it is that's 13:07 not an emotion. If we follow our emotions 13:09 we will get in trouble, but it's a decision. Yes. 13:12 If you decide that will be joy you then, 13:16 then you just make that decision 13:18 and lay it before the Lord as such. 13:19 So you're really using a principle 13:21 to decide, to choose. Right, we really feel like the, 13:26 the will of the Lord has been taught us 13:29 in a different way through this experience, 13:31 because now it's coming upon six months 13:35 since the accident happened and we haven't had seen 13:40 the answers that we wanted, you know that we would 13:43 prefer and yet everyday there is grace for that day. 13:46 Amen. Amen. You know Rita, you're the step mom. 13:50 What were you feeling at all this? 13:54 well, I know I didn't experience the pain 13:57 that his birth parents did. Matthew and I were very close. 14:01 He was a delightful child when I... when Charles 14:05 and I married and came back for the honeymoon, 14:07 I found a houseful of bachelors moved in, you know, 14:10 living alone and so the first thing out of Matthew's mouth 14:14 when I walked in the house was welcome home mom. 14:17 Oh! Really. And he opened his heart to me, 14:20 you know, very real way and we bonded, 14:22 we could talk for hours on subjects. 14:24 How old was he? He was 12. 14:27 Really, and he said that. Yeah, he was a special boy. 14:30 That's beautiful. He had deep concern 14:32 for his nutrition, which is unusual for a 12-year-old boy 14:36 and he would follow me around the kitchen, 14:37 looking over my shoulder in all the pots and all the bowls 14:40 and say now what's in that? And so, 14:44 but we used to giggle over that later when I would tell him 14:46 that I used to find him things to do outside 14:49 of the house while I cooked. My heart was very touched 14:53 and it was a very hard time. 14:56 Don't you write poems, Rita? 14:58 didn't you have several poems written about Matthew? 15:01 or just a few, but we'd like for you to share 15:04 some of that with us. 15:05 Yes, I'll share a poem that I wrote. 15:08 God's Perfect Will. 15:10 Lord, you are my all, my strength and my peace. 15:14 I call upon Your name and doubting thoughts cease. 15:17 Your perfect will and way is all that I desire. 15:21 I place my hand in Yours while passing through this fire. 15:26 I ask you to create a new heart within me, 15:29 Remove the filth and dross until pure Gold you see, 15:33 Your promises I trust, they now supply the key 15:37 to rising up above and having victory! 15:40 By faith and not by sight I watch your plan unfold, 15:45 enjoying comfort sweet, safe within Your fold. 15:49 That's beautiful. Thank you. 15:52 Did you decide to return to Black Hill after that 15:54 did you want to say something? No. 15:57 Did you decide to return to Black Hills then after that? 16:01 It was a hard decision to know, 16:03 we, we really agonized over that, because each, 16:05 each day as we go and say Matthew, 16:08 it seems is if with his love of soul winning, he was, 16:12 was crying out to us saying don't spend your time 16:15 waiting on me. That's the way he felt inside. 16:18 Yes and, and so we kept saying Lord, is this your, 16:23 really your will, what is your will, 16:25 and it just kept coming on stronger and stronger 16:28 that we were being called to go ahead 16:31 and leave him there in good care. 16:34 And what was his condition then, he was in, 16:36 he was what? He was still in a deep coma 16:38 at that time, Matthew used to, when he had taken 16:42 the Bible college himself, he would come home 16:45 and share with us, you have to go 16:47 and share God's word. And he would say, 16:50 you need to go out and I would, I would say Matthew, 16:52 I have a missionary field right here and I point 16:55 to my little girls and he just look at me 16:57 and raise an eyebrow. And that would be the end 16:59 of the conversation that he, he... we knew his passion 17:03 was for saving souls, was for bring the Gospel 17:06 of Jesus Christ to hearts that hadn't heard the story. 17:10 So we knew that's what he would want. 17:13 You know, don't you have some pictures of Matthew? 17:18 Yes, they we can share, Yes, there is a picture 17:21 that was given to us several weeks after the accident 17:25 that we had not seen that a friend of his had taken, 17:28 that really tells the story of who Matthew is? 17:31 He had his Bible opened and... then he is, 17:34 you like this one because he is, it really shows Matthew. 17:37 It shows Matthew. He loved the word of God 17:40 and he loved to share it with people. 17:42 Well, you were separated by so many miles 17:45 and you were trying to merge yourself 17:46 in the Bible College. 17:50 How did you deal with discouragement? 17:52 We... it seem to every time that we needed an extra boost, 17:58 the Lord gave us one in various ways. 18:00 And one of them was the news letter 18:03 that he wrote for his little congregation, 18:05 just before his accident and it dealt with Romans 8:28. 18:13 Of course, it says that "We know that all things 18:15 work together for good to them that love God, 18:17 to them who are the called according to his purpose. 18:20 We know that, that, it doesn't always seem good, 18:23 but it always works together for good. 18:24 And he wrote this little article I'll just read you 18:27 a few sentences out of it. Okay. 18:28 But it says, I remember that text in Romans 8:28, 18:32 he is talking about just after he had a little accident 18:35 with the dear a few weeks before this one. 18:37 And this is a little articles that he had written. 18:40 Matthew had written. Okay, this is his words. 18:42 It was a church newsletters, what it is. He says 18:45 I remember that the text, that text in Romans 8:28, 18:48 when I realized that all things work together for good, 18:51 to those who love God, and are called according 18:53 to his purpose and I was able to focus on 18:55 the blessing and the trials of the accident. 18:57 And in any circumstances all things work for good. 19:01 And we knew that the Lord had sent that message 19:03 not for them, but for us knowing this was just penned 19:07 a few days before that. And there was also 19:11 a letter that, that he had written to a friend, 19:14 that didn't arrive until after the accident. 19:17 And this friend went ahead and forwarded the copy 19:21 of the letter back to us, because it was 19:22 so spiritually rich and it was a real comfort to our heart. 19:27 When our son couldn't speak to us, 19:29 it was so beautiful that we had words 19:31 he could penned himself just prior, its so comforting 19:34 and I know the Lord had planned that ahead of time, amen. 19:37 Yeah, it was a beautiful thing, I remember 19:39 when this letter, that when you got it 19:41 and it touched everybody's heart when you read it. 19:46 Share with us. I'll just read a small portion 19:49 where he is talking about working 19:50 in the garden at Black Hills. And he says, one day 19:54 as I was pulling weeds and potatoes, 19:55 I notice the leaves had holes in them and they were 19:59 turning brown, that's the potatoes. 20:01 I started to think that we had done something wrong 20:04 in raising those plans, because it appeared to be dying. 20:08 So I decided to the dig under one of the plants 20:10 to see what the problem was. I discovered six to eight 20:13 good size healthy potatoes under the seemingly dead plant. 20:18 What do you think the lesson was that I learned? 20:21 The plant had to die and put all its energy 20:23 into bearing fruit. 20:28 What a comfort to know 20:29 that could this was, this was the stage of Matthew heart, 20:33 just hours before this accident. Right, this was written 20:36 to a friend he was encouraging, wasn't he? 20:38 Right, and it did not even arrived to her home 20:41 until after the accident, so it was written 20:44 quite soon before. How did the scripture 20:47 of Romans 8:28 help you with discouragement, Rita? 20:50 Well, it was like, Matthew was reminding us that 20:54 what we already knew, that all things work together 20:56 for good that back to back exceeding abundantly 20:58 above all that we ask or think. God had a plan 21:02 and we knew it. Oh! That's hard to grasp 21:03 though when you're in middle of that, isn't it? 21:04 then you, did you feel the difficulty of grasping 21:09 those promises? It is that's, there again 21:12 it comes back to a decision. Yes. And when you 21:14 make the decision, then the Lord add the grace, 21:16 like Paul and Silas when they are thrown in prison, 21:19 you know, they didn't really grasp on to it until 21:23 they started to, you know, sing in prison. 21:26 And when they started to sing, 21:28 then God moved in their behalf. 21:30 He was the one telling me that decision. 21:33 You were kind of at a camp meeting? 21:35 Weren't you together? 21:36 the last time you saw Matthew? 21:38 Yes and that was a unique situation, 21:41 because we had no plans to see him 21:43 and while we're at a family camp meeting, 21:46 they asked us if Matthew might be interested 21:48 in a job there. So we called him and he said, 21:51 you know, I'll come down and have an interview 21:53 with them, so he drove 18 hours and got there 21:56 and the job closed right before he even got there 22:00 and so we had a blessed time anyway, 22:04 it was interesting, because Matthews could have been 22:06 a little upset over that, you know, disappointment 22:09 and his countenance never changed. 22:11 He just knew the Lord had a plan no matter what, 22:13 he claimed that verse, we all did and we thought Lord, 22:16 this doesn't look like it make sense right now, 22:18 but we, we know you had a purpose and everything. 22:20 So we went on as a family and had a wonderful rest 22:23 of the week together. Later finding that was indeed 22:26 our last time with our son. 22:34 The condition that Matthew is in now, 22:38 is it easy for you look upon, is it? 22:42 And what's the doctor's prognosis for him? 22:46 Matthew is in a long term care facility. 22:51 We never dream that we would ever see our son there 22:53 or allow our loved one to be in a situation like that, 22:57 and yet it's been something that's totally 22:59 out of our control. Yeah. But Matthew right now 23:02 has very limited brainstem activity really he, 23:08 you know, has sleep and wake cycles and is able to 23:13 hear loud noises and respond and so forth, 23:15 some of those basic things. But very limited responses in, 23:20 in relation to the people around him. 23:24 For instance, when we pray with him, he doesn't 23:27 closes his eyes for prayer, it's the one thing that 23:29 he could do, but doesn't do. What about the car? 23:32 what did it look like? What happen and all that? 23:34 Don't you have picture that you can show us? 23:38 Yes, a friend handed me a camera, 23:40 I didn't have my camera with me at the time of all this. 23:42 So, is this when you were there? 23:43 Yes, yes this is the picture of the car 23:48 that Matthew was in. 23:50 It was difficult, I'm sure. 23:53 Yeah, it was difficult to see the car and be there. 23:55 Out little girls were very moved by that. 23:58 What is he look like now? 23:59 Well, he has trek in that helps him 24:02 on his breathing as a feeding tube 24:05 basically there is not a lot of other intervention, right. 24:07 We had desire that Matthew maybe could come home 24:11 with us when he got to this point and that hasn't 24:17 happened legally we been that, that door's closed 24:21 to us now. Is that right? 24:23 But we felt that also was the Lord's leading, 24:25 because of the same time we had a call to come 24:28 to Park Rapids, Minnesota and do Bible work. 24:30 Is that right? Let's see the picture 24:32 of him in the hospital there, I think that would be 24:35 something that would help people to understand 24:38 of what we need to pray for, for your sake 24:44 and your family and for Matthew's sake. 24:47 It's a process, isn't it? Yes. This picture of course 24:51 shows him on a ventilator and all the apparatus 24:54 and head monitors and so forth, monitoring his brain pressure 24:58 was a serious situation. And now, 25:02 he's pretty well past all that, but it was quite 25:05 a scary thing to come in the hospital 25:07 and see your son in that condition. 25:09 Oh! I guess! Is 1st Thessalonians 5:18 25:11 have any meaning to you on this. Yes, definitely 25:15 "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God 25:17 and Christ Jesus concerning you." 25:20 That's... once again I had to say when they say it. 25:23 It is, isn't it? In everything give thanks. 25:26 But we know that God still has a plan in all this 25:29 and we've to just wait for it to unfold. 25:31 It's dangerous to try to look ahead 25:34 and see what tomorrow is, we have grace for today, 25:36 but that's all we're assured of. Right, and that could be really 25:41 encouraging for those who are going through something 25:43 anywhere near like this, or lesser or more. 25:48 And 2nd Corinthians has some meaning for you, 25:50 doesn't it? Yes, 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 7, 25:54 beautiful verse, 25:56 "For we walk by faith, and not by sight." 26:00 You know we're told that 26:02 if we could see the end from the beginning 26:03 we wouldn't choose it any other way. Amen. 26:06 And we haven't seen the end yet and yet 26:09 the beauty of it is that he has given us the grace 26:11 to say for today. We see that it's going to be 26:16 all right and that's for the best. 26:17 Oh! You know Charles and Rita, I remember when this 26:21 all happened and I asked how we could minister 26:23 to you and you felt that you just had the peace 26:27 of the Lord, that you didn't have to have everybody 26:30 ministering to you. But it was a wonderful thing 26:32 that everybody cared about you the way they did. 26:36 You know if this program has been a blessing to you, 26:38 let 3ABN know, write or call 3ABN. 26:41 Let them know how it might be touching your heart 26:44 and pray for Charles and Rita. 26:46 Matthew is not out of the woods yet, 26:48 so to speak and your prayers certainly could be added 26:53 to theirs and ours to bless him and their family. 26:55 And pray for them as they're doing their Bible work too 26:58 and we're going to be praying as we close out the program. 27:02 Please join us again on on "Thinking about Home." 27:05 We're always glad that you do that. 27:08 Charles, you wanna lead us out or take us out with prayer? 27:11 I'd love to, Gracious Lord, we want to thank you 27:15 especially for the privilege it is to be partaker 27:19 in the sufferings for Jesus Christ. 27:21 And though we don't see the end from the beginning, 27:23 we know that you have a plan and I know you're gonna 27:25 reveal that plan gloriously far above but we could ask 27:29 or think and then by faith we can grab hold of it today 27:33 even though we don't see that. 27:35 I thank you for your study, ever loving, carefully handing 27:39 over us and the love that you've shown us 27:43 in so many ways. I thank you for being able 27:46 to share the story and I pray that every one 27:49 who might also be sharing the similar circumstance 27:52 or hurt in some way can use this 27:55 as a comfort in their souls. |
Revised 2014-12-17