Stepping out

A friend sent  me the card above this week.

 Curious photo maybe -

 until you read the devotion she enclosed with it. 

She must save things like I do. 

It was dated Feb. 27, 1987. 

Thinking of many friends looking at 

"tent stretching."

Here is the devotion-

Changes   

"Enlarge the place of your tent,

 stretch your tent curtains wide, 

do not hold back; lengthen your cords, 

strengthen your stakes." Isaiah 54:2

"I had come to the last week of college, 

after four years of study. 

Now I had to move from the top of one pile 

to the bottom of the next one. 

It was a time of apprehension. 

What would the next stage be like?

For the last time, I went to the church

I had become familiar with. 

Other students were there,

 many of them my friends. I felt a tug at the heart.

 This would be the last time

 I would see some of them.

The minister announces his text:

 Isaiah 54:2. 

It was for me! 

The time had come to expand. 

Peace filled my heart when I realized

 that God was encouraging me.

 Then came a second thought. 

A bigger tent needs stronger stakes,

 and that would mean digging deeper

 into God's Word and spending more time in prayer.

 I walked out of that church 

with a warm glow in my heart. 

Amid all the changes that were in front of me,

 one thing remained the same: 

the Lord would always be with me, 

in every circumstance."

Prayer-

 Living God, 

we thank You that at every stage 

of our lives You are with us, 

encouraging us and strengthening us.

 What privileged people we are! Amen."

 Thought for the Day-

 I many not know what the future holds, 

but I can trust God to be there.

  Robert Caswell   - Coleraine, Northern Ireland

Prayer Focus:

 Those about to enter

 a new stage of life's journey.