Adult Sabbath School is meeting in the sanctuary at 9:30 a.m.. There is one adult class upstairs and all the children's classes will meet downstairs. Everyone is welcome! |
The Need for More Abigails - “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9 NIV
While listening to the national news the other evening Jerry turned to me and said, “It is just one negative story after another. Our world seems to be getting worse and worse.” (Probably an understatement!) The majority of the national news recently has been dominated by the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I was interested to read something written by the Seventh-day Adventist President of the Central States Conference. He had a slightly different take on the story of this controversial person. Our local news has given more coverage to the Evergreen School shooting and the tragedy of that event. That shooting along with the Charlie Kirk shooting at about the same time has made for a difficult week in America.
I probably have more interest in school shootings than the average person because I worked in the public school system in St. Louis, MO, where we regularly practiced the Campus Intruder Drill. As we practiced the drill, we would huddle in the corner of the classroom, waiting for the “all clear.” I have had young children look at me with fear in their eyes, not understanding it was just a drill. “Mrs. Oster,” they would ask, “Is there really someone in our school with a gun who wants to hurt us?” Fortunately, I could always reassure them it was just a drill.
While thinking about all of this I happened to read the story of Abigail in the Bible. (1 Samuel 25) Her husband, Nabal, was a very wealthy and a very foolish man. He thought only of himself so when David sent some men to Nabal desperately seeking provisions and help, Nabal refused. Unfortunately, David responded with anger and revenge. (Sounds like our world right now!) Then Abigail, Nabal’s wife, came on the scene and intervened. She humbly met David with food and supplies and asked for his forgiveness for her husband. She was a true peacemaker. David realized what a terrible mistake he was about to make and thanked Abigail for her good judgment. How our world needs more “Abigails” right now!
The national news did end that evening with a “feel good” type of story. A dad along with his two young boys had called a mechanic to replace a dead battery in their car. As this very busy mechanic began to work on the car, he involved the two little boys. He not only showed them what needed to be done, he actually had them do some of the work themselves. Of course, it took much more of his time, but he had chosen kindness over his busyness.
In our messed up world, full of violence, wars, school shootings, and loss of life, let’s remember Abigail and choose to be peacemakers.
Sharon Oster
“Unusual Gifts” - Jerry and I had driven to Estes Park one Sabbath afternoon this past summer hoping for a cooler place than Greeley to go for a walk. We stopped at the Visitor Center where there are sidewalks to walk in different directions. Since Jerry can walk considerably faster than I can with my walker, he was some distance ahead of me. The sidewalk we were on goes through a walkway underground. I was walking through when I noticed one woman had slowed her pace to walk with me. Soon she asked, “How are you doing?” I smiled and told her I was fine and then asked her the same question. She hesitated but did say she was okay.
She then walked on but stopped near the exit. On the wall was a grouping of mosaic tiles – maybe 4 inches square – with different pictures painted on them. When I caught up with her, she had another question for me. “Have you ever really looked at all those tiles?” When I said that I hadn’t, she had one more question: “Do you see the one with the Bible verse on it?” When I wasn’t immediately seeing it, she walked over and pointed to it. I read the verse aloud and said, “That is a really nice verse. Thank you for sharing that with me.” She said, “Thank you for letting me share with you. I really needed that today.” She started to walk away, then turned and said, “I know the Holy Spirit helped me see that verse today.” She then walked on and was lost in the crowd.
I decided that my needing to walk more slowly because of MS (Multiple Sclerosis) perhaps had some advantages. It has given me some interesting encounters with people. In addition to the one I just wrote about, there was the time I was walking in a park and a college girl stopped me and wanted to pray for me. There was also the time I was struggling to walk into the grocery store and a lady stopped me and prayed for me right in front of the store with people coming and going all around us.
It reminds me of something I had read recently written by a lady with MS. She had titled it “The Gift of MS.” She began by saying what MS had taken from her: dreams, careers, physical and cognitive abilities, pride, self-esteem. Then she had an equally long list of all the things the disease had given her: listening skills, ability to express empathy, adaptation to changing circumstances, and letting go of perfectionism. She said it was a gift she never expected to open, but yet a gift to be thankful for in many ways.
Perhaps that is what Paul meant when he said, “There was given me a thorn in my flesh.” (2 Cor. 12:7) He had asked God to take it away, but God had said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9) Thinking of all this has helped me to better understand what Paul said in 1 Thess. 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Sharon Oster