Looking at the television coverage...how can one be overjoyed? Really? Three gifts overjoyed?
#1
I could not help but think of the four newborns on ventilators at NYU Langone hospital who were evacuated and those valiant nurses who hand-bagged them down 9 flights of stairs to ambulance transports. Those nurses were literally their life-breaths.
You can see the short video here.
#2
Nearly 200 firefighters braved the elements, despite their concern about their own families and loved ones, spending nearly 9 hours to contain fire among 80 homes that were destroyed by fire at Breezy Point. A lot of retirees of the NYPD/NYFD lived in that area...true salt of the earth folks. Thank God those first responders continue to show up...day after day after day.
You can see the short raw video here. (Two-thirds down on the page - I apologize for the political ad.)
#3
No matter what is going on in our lives, I can be overjoyed because of God's Word. I think about 2 Corinthians 4:8-9:
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.And Psalm 46:1-3:
God is our refuge and strength,Happiness comes and goes with emotions...but joy runs constant, deep, and consistently despite our circumstances.
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Thank you for always finding God in the everyday of life.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for your encouragement, Angela.
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