Years ago I was scheduled to speak at the Adventist church in Wausau, Wisconsin. My host family phoned to assure me that the wife and two children would meet me at the airport Friday afternoon. Before leaving to catch the plane at the South Bend, Indiana, airport, I grabbed some magazines to read during the flight. Suddenly it dawned on me that I had no idea what my host looked like, nor had I given her any description of myself. How would we find each other in a crowded airport?
When we landed, I thought of a solution. As I walked toward the baggage claim area, I held a magazine against my chest. Within moments a woman approached me. “You must be Dr. Strayer,” she exclaimed. When I nodded, she replied, “I knew it had to be you when I saw you holding up this week’s Adventist Review.” It was better than a passport!
—Brian E. Strayer, Berrien Springs, Michigan
You’ve gone away . . .
Believing the “truth” you think you know
Believing that I have sought your ruin
Believing that I must be gone from the world you seek.
You’ve left my home
But not my presence
But not my love
But not my grace.
You’ve sold your birthright
And bought leftover porridge
To hold you ’til the offal awakens you
To know the dregs I offer are greater
Than the kingdom you seek.
Know that I offer not dregs
But my kingdom
But the grace of my glory
And the glory of my grace.
Come home dear child
Come home.
—Tom Green, Littleton, Colorado
“Every act in our life should be in worship to God.”
—Geoff Starr, at the Tollgate Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Virginia
Comfort zone—get out of it;
Overcome the opinions of others;
Move into the miraculous;
Expect the encouragement of God.
—Marie Smith, Blossburg, Pennsylvania, submitted by Mary Calhoun
