ALMOST TEN YEARS OLD!

It will be, that on April 6, 1999, as old as I am in this picture, that I began sending out this email devotional called then "Consecrated Coffee," a reference to my belief that it could and should be read over a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. My district superintendent at the time was Rev. Harold Sassman, and during that year said, "I really like that devotional you send out, that 'ConCafe.'" Being a devoted follower of John Wesley, who seemed to like incorrect names either called him or given him, I liked it and changed its name to ConCafe, meaning "with coffee." Another pastor, dear to my heart, Rev. Francisco Gaytan likes to call it "Sanka Sagrado," or "sacred Sanka" a reference to a particular brand of decaffinated coffee. I never dreamed I would be sending this out for ten years, but then again most of my suits are at least that old as are some of my shoes, but I pray these have had more meaning. I thank God for the words and I praise Him everytime I get an email note about how a message I thought was terrible, touched somebody and helped them in a decision or through a problem. My most faithful reader is my dear wife, Nellie, who always, after the fact sadly as she is sleeping while most of these have been written, catches grammatical errors. In truth, we're probably a bit older than ten years old; Dr. Gene Sprague of Trinity UMC in San Antonio was one of the first subscribers and he compiled a labor of love, printed out the very first 100 or so of these and put them in a huge notebook so that I would have for future reference. Thanks to all of you for reading. If you're blessed by any of these, please forward them on to loved ones. My intent was to help spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through what was for me then, a new medium. I finally figured out Twitter or at least how to post from my phone. Thanks to my daughters, I also figured out Facebook. Nothing though, will ever replace the written Word that we have and should read each and every day. That was my other intent, to help all of us, get deeper into the Word of God. PRAYER: Loving God, as You shared with me last night before our Bible study on the Letters of Peter, the last half of Your Word was written by those who understood the power of sharing Your love through the written word and through letters; we may be the generation that sees the day that what we know today as a letter ends. But one thing we're so sure of is that You will never cease to speak and love each and every one of us. Bless this dear reader and his or her needs. Bless and protect our loved ones. For those parts of the world where there is too much rain or the result of too much rain, bring comfort and protection. For those parts, such as this, bring rain. Where there is the threat of conflict and bloodshed, bring your peace. Where there is the absence of peace, bring it, first to our hearts, then to our minds so that we and those who make decisions would choose peace. For our troops we pray; that they stay out of harm's way and that soon the day would come when war is over and families can once again be reunited. For now, though, bring that which is missing in those parts of the world. May one day all humanity know of Your love. Lord we also pray for comfort for those who have lost loved ones. Bring your healing and peace as only you can. I pray all these things in Jesus Christ's precious and powerful name, amen. Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Eradio Valverde