As I opened the door to receive my surprise celebration, my soon-to-be three-year-old grandson was bent over in tears saying, “Oh no…the balloon!” At this point, I looked up as the helium-filled birthday balloon slipped from his hands and flew upward toward the clouds.

The message of 2 Timothy 1:7 remains vital for both young and older leaders, reminding all believers that they are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

All suffering experienced in our perishable bodies is temporary, akin to the perishable nature of worldly problems, reminding us to place our trust in Christ, whose promises ensure that our efforts and trials serve eternal purposes.

The things God initiates God finishes.

We can and must pray for each other. But we can also use all the powerful prayers in scripture and offer them back to the Lord as we come to him with our burdens and as we pray for others.

Live in confidence that Jesus will come and lead us into the fully renewed earth where we will live in perfect peace and unity with God, with each other, and with nature.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Nearly every night I step out onto my deck and look up at the stars, and I think I can feel the same things David declared in Psalm 8.