Testimonies of Grace, Part 5
We asked our congregation for some ways that God had blessed or grown them during this difficult time. Here are some of our family’s responses:
This quarantine has been a blessing in disguise for me. Over the past two years several of my friends became widows and last month I nearly lost a very dear friend to COVID-19. The Lord used all of this to hone my eternal affections and also to consider the legacy I want to leave to my children.
My involvement with Social Media was wearing on me so I deleted my Facebook account and focused my energy on projects I’d been putting off. One of those was to sort out several boxes of memorabilia, including one that I inherited from my mother. It contained important WWI and II documents, diaries, newspaper articles, business ledgers, and family photos dating back to the early 1800’s. Since I had previously written two books on our family’s history, the intent of this project was to purge and organize, to spare our kids the chore when we’re gone.
The thing that always struck me deeply while researching family genealogy, is the brevity of life and the fact that few of us will be remembered beyond a generation or two. Our lives truly are but a vapor—here today and gone tomorrow.
But, the Gospel infuses hope into such a bleak landscape, because it comes with a promise of an inheritance that will never perish. “So that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:7. I may not have much in the way of earthly possessions to pass onto my children but, by God’s grace, I rejoice knowing they can share in the inheritance of life eternal and in riches that will never fade away. It’s been comforting to be reminded that this world is not my home and that my hope is fixed on the Rock of Ages who remains the same, yesterday, today, and forever.
One of my favorite stanzas comes from the beloved hymnist Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 90.
“Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.O God, our help in ages past,
Isaac Watts
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.”
– DB