God’s work comes full circle!
If we are willing to take the time to seriously evaluate how the Lord has worked in us, throughout the various areas and stages of our life, we will allow ourselves to be amazed by Him. In the near future, my wife June and I will be traveling to Nebraska and Kansas to visit family and friends. In many ways this trip will be an historical journey for both of us.
Returning to Arlington, Nebraska will take us back to where our life began as a married couple. It was at this place where we intimately grew in our relationship with one another, but more importantly in our relationship with our Lord. It was also where over a period of thirty-one years God richly blessed us with two wonderful daughters, a nice home, a church family, and many friends. It was during those early years in Arlington, that the Holy Spirit was working on my heart, and He instilled in me a deep passion to read and study God’s Word. A passion which still exists today.
Upon leaving the Arlington area we will be traveling to a small town in northeast Kansas. The town of Linn was where June taught for two years in a Lutheran school. During that time frame we dated long distance. The Lord helped us to maintain a close connection and a growing friendship. His hand of protection and spiritual guidance was shown to be actively present in our lives over those two years prior to our marriage. God had already designed, in His perfect plan, for me to meet and marry a faithful Christian wife.
Finally, we will end up in Grand Island, Nebraska, the place of my birth and home for the first 24 years of my life. It was here where I was baptized into the family of God, raised in a Christian household, and received 12 years of a Christ-centered education, all wonderful blessings and gifts from the Lord.
At the end of our visiting in Grand Island, we will return to Britton, Michigan, the place where God called June and I to do ministry in the name of Jesus. For sixty-five years the Lord has directed my life and He has lovingly brought me to this place, at this time, to this congregation, to shepherd His people, and be a faithful administrator of His Word and the Sacraments. To God be all glory, honor, and praise, for the incredible things He has done for me, in me, and through me!
I will end this devotion with the first verse of “Send, O Lord, Your Holy Spirit”, a hymn that was used at my Ordination. “Send, O Lord, Your Holy Spirit On Your servant now, we pray; Let him prove a faithful shepherd That no lamb be led astray. Your pure teaching to proclaim, To extol Your holy name, And to feed Your lambs, dear Savior, Make his aim and sole endeavor.” Pastor McCarty