But God

Security

But God’s Spirit never abandons us

For today, a picture and two lovely poems.

Caleb, first grade

When do you feel butterflies? Nervous, scared, anxious, worried, insecure?

I felt that way while my sister recently spent a week in the hospital, most of it in ICU. Her doctor said he hadn’t known a case when someone as sick as she was had not died. We praise God for bringing her through this! For me, though, the days before she stabilized were nerve-racking.

This poem was true for my sister during those fraught days—and equally true for me, despite my feelings. It’s true for Caleb and Talita, now living in another country, with everything new.

And it’s true for you.

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.

You see everything I do.

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.

You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

I can never be lost to your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there.

If I go down to the grave, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

even there your hand will guide me

and your strength will support me.

Psalm 139:1-10

I received poem #2 from my niece, who is going through her own fraught time:

…we live not outside of time,
but inside its melodic chambers,
not escaping the fear and the pain,
but companioning it with so much love,
so much beauty that somehow,
even in the halls of distress,
we nestle deeper in and feel safe.

from The Humming by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

As we’ve been seeing in our survey of the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament, he companions us wherever we walk every day. With so much love and so much beauty. We are never alone. Never abandoned. Never lost to God’s eternal, unchanging, faithful Spirit.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26).

Never Alone, Hillsong

Grief

A personal note:

The last couple of months have been intense, and I’ve gotten behind on a long series of responsibilities and projects. Until I catch up–especially with a book I need to complete–I’ll be posting here only once a week, aiming for Wednesdays.

One part of the challenge was the decision our daughter Valerie and her husband Cesar made to move back to Brazil–with just six weeks before Val would have to start work there. They accomplished a major move, including participation in our Elliott family reunion and a trip to New York to secure documents they needed, in that short time. Truly amazing! We will miss them. And we rejoice with them, for all the goodness they will experience “back home.”

Here they are on the airplane; destination: a new chapter of life in São Paulo.

They did it!! Girls and guys: Back row Luciene (Cesar’s mom), Valerie, Talita. Front row Cesar Sr., Cesar Jr., Caleb. Lu and Cesar Sr., who came to visit before the Brazil decision was made, worked incredibly hard to make this move possible, including preparing the house for sale. Anyone looking for a cute house to purchase in Pittsburgh?

I asked you to pray for my sister. Thank you. She’s doing better, for which we are so grateful. And she has a long road ahead.

It’s helpful to me right now to know that the Holy Spirit understands grief. This blog considers a particular kind of grief, not the separation of loved ones moving to another continent, but the rupture caused by our sin, when we harm ourselves and others.

But the Holy Spirit grieves

Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.

Ephesians 4:30 Do not bring sorrow to [grieve, offend, vex, sadden] the Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified [put his seal on] you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not stifle [quench, suppress, smother, hold back, try to stop] the Holy Spirit.

Grief. It touches each of us sooner or later, to a greater or lesser degree.

Grief even touches the Holy Spirit. Why? Because he expects us to obey a random set of arbitrary rules or face capricious anger and punishment from God?

No. God deeply loves each of us. What hurts him is our unnecessary suffering because we do what is not lifegiving and harm ourselves and others, whom he loves just as profoundly.

In Psalm 51 King David records his anguished cry of repentance after the prophet Nathan confronted him with seducing Bathsheba and murdering her husband. David rightly fears that God will take the Holy Spirit from him as he did with David’s predecessor, King Saul (1 Samuel 16:14). God’s Spirit is holy; he cannot associate himself with rebellion and evil. And in the Old Testament, pre-Pentecost, the Spirit was given to particular people in select circumstances. Not, as Paul stated to the Ephesians, to all believers as a guarantee of our salvation.

God’s Spirit is all about life, health, growth, creativity, blessing, fruitfulness, beauty. When we choose to harm ourselves or others, we limit his power and effectiveness in our lives. And we grieve him.

The way back to joy is exactly what David did: admit and confess our wrongdoing; no excuses. There still will be consequences. Saying “I’m sorry; I was wrong” does not bring a murdered person back to life or make adultery OK. David and Bathsheba’s firstborn died.

But the relationship with God can be repaired, and often (not always) ruptures with other people can heal.

Restoration begins with humility and honesty. Repentance opens the door once more to the Holy Spirit’s wonderful work in our lives.

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God (Psalm 51:17).

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. … The Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings which cannot be expressed in words (Romans 8:26).

Please pray …

My sister Jan is in the hospital with severe, complex symptoms, with no clear diagnosis as yet. Please pray for her. Thank you.

Today our daughter Valerie and her family are moving from Pittsburgh to São Paulo, Brazil, back to “our” neighborhood, church, and school. We will miss them!

Here’s a photo of our family from last week’s reunion.

The family moving is on the right, Valerie, Cesar, and Caleb (7), and Talita (5) standing by me. On the left are Rachel and Brian with their two girls, Liliana (5) and Juliana (2 1/2: “I’m not a baby. I’m a toddler!”), then our son Dan and his girlfriend Caitlin, who met our extended Elliott family for the first time at this reunion.

Gentle and quiet

But God’s Spirit loves beauty

Job 26:13-14 God’s Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent. These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power.

Isaiah 61:3 To all who mourn in Israel, the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.

1 Peter 1:2, 3:4 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. … Clothe yourselves with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

I love hiking! Nothing soothes my soul more than unhurried time in the gentle beauty of woods. Birdsong and the music of a brook, the exquisite beauty of tiny wildflowers, fleeting glimpses of deer and other woodland animals, shade and sun and breeze combine in beauty that is precious to me.

Catoctin Mountain Park, Steve Walters

I enjoyed all this last week during our family reunion, on a trail in the Catoctin Mountain Park in the lovely company of a beloved niece and nephew. They were patient with me when I needed to breathe a bit on the ascent, and the rich conversation we shared has given me food for thought ever since.

God created us to love beauty. His Spirit creates and sustains beauty both surrounding us and within us, in harmony with his own nature.

I hope that today you and I will find space to soak in the loveliness of the world and people around you. And find joy in the work of the Spirit in our own hearts.

Fairest Lord Jesus (“Beautiful Savior”) unknown writer, 1662, Stacey Sings Hymns.

In covenant love

But God’s Spirit warns us

Nehemiah 9:29-30 [A prayer rehearsing the history of Israel] You warned your people to return to your Law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen. In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.

1 Timothy 4:1 Warnings against False TeachersNow the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

Hebrews 3:6-7, 12-13 We are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ [some manuscripts add, “faithful to the end”]. That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.” … Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.

I’m posting this in Maryland, at a wonderful place called Caboose Farm (Caboosefarm.net) where the extended Elliott family is having a once-every-three-years reunion. I probably won’t post this Thursday.

In the remarkable prayer of praise recorded in Nehemiah 9, the word “but” appears six times in reference to the people of Israel. God was faithful in myriad ways, but his covenant people turned away from him again and again and again.

The author of Hebrews draws a straight line from his time back to the people of Israel in the desert, 1500 years before. If he (or she) could see our hard hearts, two thousand years later, would he (or she) draw a line to us as well? Don’t we need the Spirit’s warning as much as the Hebrews did?

Reflecting on this, I recall that in the last few days I’ve heard or read the following:

  • “I don’t think God exists, because if he does, he would have healed my beloved sister. I can’t trust him anymore.”
  • “I was too badly hurt by the church to ever go back. I still believe in God in my heart, but I can’t stand the people who claim to know him yet behave in unkind and cruel ways in his name and say such demeaning things about people different from them.”
  • “I’m an ex. Ex-Catholic, ex-protestant, ex-atheist, ex-everything. Bottom line: I believe in myself.”
  • “God is too busy holding this fractured world together to care about me, and people have been cruel. My life has been one disappointment after another. So, I’m considering ending it.”

The good news from the prayer in Nehemiah 9? An entirely different “but.”

“But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon your people” (v. 17).

“And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you” (v. 32).

Forgiveness. Grace. Mercy. Patience. Unfailing love. God, who keeps his promises, offers them all. Take what you need.

Hungry

But God’s Spirit teaches us

Nehemiah 9:20 [In a prayer rehearsing God’s goodness to Israel after Ezra reads the Law of Moses to the people] You sent your good Spirit to instruct them. [Other versions say “teach.”)

John 14:26 [Jesus told his disciples] But when the Father sends the Advocate [paraclete: Comforter, Encourager, Counselor] as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything that I have told you.

1 John 2:27 For the Holy Spirit teaches you …

So far in this little survey of the Holy Spirit active in the Old Testament we’ve seen him as creator, supreme artisan, wise adviser/burden bearer, source of power, and communicator.

Since God doesn’t change, it’s not surprising to see the Spirit playing these same roles in the New Testament. Today’s topic is no exception. The Holy Spirit teaches us, as he taught the people of Israel in ancient times. Jesus, the master teacher, filled with the Spirit, told the disciples it was better for him to go away, because the Spirit can be present to each of us, as Jesus in his human body could not be.

Nehemiah 8 and 9 describe people hungry and thirsty to understand God’s instructions. They longed to live in keeping with God’s wisdom. In chapter 8, they stood for three hours listening closely (v. 3) as Ezra read the law of Moses to them. A month or so later, they again stood for three hours listening to the law, and then for another three hours confessing their sins—all the ways they had broken God’s law—and worshiping God.

Have you ever been as hungry and thirsty as that, not just for a Fourth of July barbecue, but longing to understand how to please God, in love with him and thrilled to honor his greatness? In chapter 8, the people celebrated “with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them” (v. 12).

Immediately after, Israel put into practice what they were learning. It led to a dramatic change of priorities and lifestyle, resulting in health and harmony among them.

I appreciate this prayer by Joseph Mercier, 1851-1926, noted for his strong resistance to German occupation of Belgium during World War I. Many around him were killed and buildings destroyed. It’s a fervent prayer in the throes of great trouble and stress. Today I think of the courageous people of Ukraine who persist in their work for God while missiles fall around them.

O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do; give me your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that you desire of me and to accept all that you permit to happen to me. Let me only know your will.

Listen!

But God’s Spirit speaks to and through those who listen to him June 30, 2025

2 Samuel 16:13 So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on.

2 Samuel 23:1-2 These are the last words of David: … The Spirit of the Lord speaks through me; his words are upon my tongue.

1 Kings 11:38 [God said to Jeroboam through his prophet Ahijah] If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways … as my servant David did, then I will always be with you.”

Jeremiah 23:18, 21-22 Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen? … I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words.

Acts 2:30 [Peter preaching on Pentecost, referencing Psalm 16] But David was a prophet.

  • A friend gave me wise counsel regarding a problem I shared with her.
  • My husband encouraged me by running an errand on a busy day that I had forgotten, accompanied by kind words.
  • On a day I felt like I had blown it in several areas, a mentee told me her sessions with me have helped her overcome obstacles and draw near to God.

All of these happened in the last week. In each case, I felt that I received through others words from God that nourished my soul and lifted my head. I believe they fit within a broad definition of prophecy: hearing and communicating words from God that bless us and others. As Paul put it, speaking truth in love, in a way that is good and helpful and encouraging (Ephesians 4:15, 29).

Leanne Payne often said, “God is constantly speaking words of love to us.” Am I still and attentive enough to hear what our Father is saying, or am I too anxious to fill the space with my own words?

Shutterstock: N. D. DSouza

Listening to God doesn’t come with any agenda other than accurately hearing what God is saying to us. Words from God always align with Scripture and with God’s character. Exceptionally, they may be predictive of the future.

When people claim to have heard messages from God for others yet do them harm rather than good, or when these “words” don’t line up with Scripture or with God’s character, they cast doubt on whether hearing from God is a real thing. Perhaps you’ve been hurt by someone claiming to know God’s perspective or direction for your life.

Jeremiah, cited above, records God’s frustration with that kind of “prophecy,” false because of failure to humbly listen to him. We must always take great care with our words, but especially when we think we’ve heard from God for someone else. I wonder how much “church hurt” is rooted in this kind of abuse.

Some Scripture authors, such as David with his psalms, may not even have been aware that their writing was prophetic in the predictive sense—yet New Testament writers refer to them as Messianic. An example is Peter’s quoting of Psalm 16 in Acts 2. Did King David consider himself a prophet, as Peter declares? I at least have not thought of David that way, and commentators express a variety of opinions about this.

Hearing from God is a huge topic that can’t adequately be covered in one blog post. It’s clear, though, that David listened to God, and in the power of the Spirit, communicated God’s words to others through his psalms, words that still bless us today.

I want to listen like that.

Word of God Speak, Bart Millard and Pete Kipley, Mercy Me

Better together

But God’s Spirit gives us power to do what he asks

Judges 6:34 Then the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

1 Corinthians 4:20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.

2 Corinthians 12:9 God said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

Gideon, self-identified as the least important member of the weakest family in Israel, hid at the bottom of a winepress to thresh wheat for fear of the cruel oppression of Midianites.

(Remember Jesus’s disciples hiding in a locked room for fear of the Jewish rulers?)

Out of all Israel, the angel of the Lord appeared to this frightened young man and greeted him with “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

(Remember Jesus’s disciples hearing him say to them, “I am with you always, to the end of the age”?)

It must have felt to Gideon like a sarcastic joke. I picture him, startled, looking around the small space where he was hiding to see who this strange guy was talking to. It couldn’t be to him. Mighty hero??               

Gideon responds with bitter questions, an overflow of anguish ending with, “The Lord has abandoned us.” How could this stranger possibly believe the Lord was with them?

(Remember that on the mountain in Galilee where God gave the disciples the Great Commission, Matthew makes a point of telling us that some of them doubted—even after walking so closely with Jesus for three years?)

And the angel, speaking for God, says, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” Gideon replies, “But Lord, how can I …?” (Judges 6:14-15 and on). He didn’t realize that the strength he had was God’s strength, not his own.

(Remember Jesus saying to the disciples, “I have all authority … therefore, go”?)

The unlikely interchange between Gideon and the angel of the Lord reminds me of Moses at the burning bush. “Who, me? You want me to do what?? You’ve got to be kidding! Send someone else better qualified!”

You know these stories, right? If not, read Judges 6 and 7 and Exodus 3. If you’re like me, you’ll find a LOT to identify with in Gideon’s and Moses’s protests.

I am with you. With God’s call comes the power to accomplish what God asks of us. And because we know our own inadequacies, we know it’s only the Lord who can fulfill through us his purposes. All glory goes to him.

The Lord walked closely with both Gideon and Moses, patiently encouraging them and giving them specific instructions along the way. In each case, they started from a place of acknowledged, painful loss and defeat and failure. Their relationship with God was transparent from the beginning, with no pretense of being worthy of God using them. They learned to recognize and rely on the Lord’s voice. They depended absolutely on him.

In both cases, later, after God successfully accomplished his initial call to them, Gideon and Moses tried to go forward on their own and got into trouble. King Saul is another biblical example of the way self-confidence can become self-defeating (1 Samuel 15). The author of 1 Chronicles summarizes Saul’s life in this terse statement, “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He failed to obey the Lord’s command” (10:13).

We don’t ever outgrow our need to depend on the Lord and submit ourselves to him. We are always beginners in this walk of obedience and faith; forever, the rest of our lives, learning and growing.

And on the flip side, in our desperate dependency, we can feel the delight of watching God do through us what we could never do in our own strength. I experience this every time I hear someone say that the Karis book has encouraged or challenged them in some way. I wrote that book with so much fear and trembling, so keenly aware of my own inadequacy.

Like Gideon and Moses, I tried to get out of doing it, asking God to choose someone else, a better writer, someone with a platform and experience in the publishing industry. Someone not so closely tied to Karis. I feared being accused of bias and lack of objectivity; that what I wrote couldn’t be relied on because I am her mother. I feared not being capable of summarizing her thirty years of life in a way that would do justice both to her faith and the Lord’s faithfulness to her. I fussed and protested for months.

And in the end, holding this little book in my hand three years later, I experienced the truth God’s Spirit expressed to Paul, which became Karis’s life verse: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

How is the Lord stretching you? What is he asking of you that seems impossible?

Can you hear him saying, as he did to Gideon, “I am with you”?

Are you willing for the Spirit to clothe you with power to do what he is asking you to do?

Too heavy

But the Spirit shares the burden June 23, 2025

Numbers 11:1, 11, 14-18 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. … And Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? … I can’t carry the burden of all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! … Then the Lord to Moses, “Gather before me seventy men … I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone.”

As we picked raspberries in her father’s garden a few days ago, my granddaughter Juliana, 2 ½, said, “Grammy, I mulch. But sometimes it’s too heavy, so my Daddy helps me.”

Juliana (right) “camping” with her sister and cousins in Grammy and PopPop’s back yard Friday.

I’ve been smiling over that ever since. How many two-year-olds do you know who say with pride, “I mulch”? How many have tried to carry a 40-pound bag of wood chips?

But Juju’s statement went deep into my soul. I, too, try to carry burdens too heavy for me. And my Father helps me. Thank you, Father.

In your life, what is too heavy for you to carry by yourself?

My friend Rhonda and her husband Jim have carried gardening burdens for me this spring, a responsibility too heavy for me as I have faced other challenges. I am so deeply grateful.

Moses found himself desperate for help with dealing with the complaints of the people he shepherded for forty years in the desert, a burden too heavy for him alone.

God, who called us through Jesus to live “freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:30 in The Message), promises not to give us more than we can bear. He calls us to share the weight of our burdens with other people.

If life feels overwhelming right now, I invite you to think about these Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit who can share your load. I’m doing this exercise myself today.

Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

1 Corinthians 10:13 The temptations (peirasmos, testings) in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Galatians 6:2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

I will give you rest Sing through the Bible

All kinds of arts and crafts

But the Spirit is the supreme artisan!

Exodus 31:1-5, 35:30-35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel … I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. … And the Lord has given both him and Oholiab the ability to teach their skills to others. The Lord has given them special skills as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine line cloth, and weavers. They excel as craftsmen and as designers.

It makes sense that the triune God who created earth in all its beauty and exquisite detail, and in particular created humankind in his image, would delight in our ability to create. I love this story, of God particularly gifting Bezalel and Oholiab, filling them with his Holy Spirit, to lead and guide the crafting of the Tabernacle, an oasis of beauty in the desert. I love the fact that God wanted this mobile place of regular connection with his people to be especially lovely.

Last Saturday our church held an Arts Collaboratives Retreat for people engaged in all kinds of creative pursuits. We have seven Arts Collaboratives: Writers J, Gardeners, 2-D Visual Art, 3-D Visual Art (pottery, knitting, architecture, glasswork …), Songwriters, Music Performers, and Drama. The retreat focused on Psalm 51 in four parts: Who am I without God? Who am I with God? What is my response to God? What is God’s response to me?

Each part included personal meditation on our response to questions related to our art, including toward the end, How am I through my art showing God’s greatness? How do I want to show God’s greatness through my art?

Our church enjoys the fruits of the Collaboratives’ labor in a variety of ways. The Songwriters regularly enrich our worship. A couple of weeks ago, the Music Performers offered a wonderful concert recognizing the in-between time we all live in. During Holy Week and Easter, 2-D and 3-D visual artists displayed thoughtful, intriguing interpretations of the Stations of the Cross. The Gardeners’ Collaborative helps keep our green spaces lovely.

The Writers’ Collaborative does not have a joint project at this point. But on a personal level, we share our work with each other and offer feedback and encouragement. Right now, as I’m working on Three-in-One, a member of our group who has kids the ages of my target audience is giving me valuable input. The book will be much better because of his own experience with writing for 9-12 year olds.

I depend on the Holy Spirit to help me every time I write something (including these blogs). In the case of this book, I have repeatedly asked for prayer that God will open my mind and guide me through his Spirit to accurately (if inevitably incompletely) represent who God is through this story. If you would like to pray for me in this, I would appreciate it! I am keenly aware of my own limitations, and at the same time I’m learning so much!

Please pray too for Lucy, the teenage artist who is working with me on Three-in-One. And pray for Aderyn, who is figuring out how to handle the challenging ideas I have for illustrating The Gladness Book. (If you’ve seen Campfire Song Stories, Lucy’s and Aderyn’s names are probably familiar to you). I hope both The Gladness Book and Three-in-One will be out by the end of the year, joining The Giggly Bug as this year’s new books.

Inspired by an attempt to help a three-year-old get over her fear of bugs,

now available in hardcover and paperback on Amazon (I don’t know why the cover image isn’t posted yet) and Barnes and Noble.

Thank you, Lord, that when you created us, you desired us to also be creative! Thank you that your Spirit inspires and gifts us in so many different ways.

One of the songs from the retreat keeps running through my mind: Your Labor Is Not in Vain, by Wendell Kimbrough, Paul Zach, and Isaac Wardell.