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God, it seems you've been our home forever; long before the mountains were born, Long before you brought earth itself to birth, from "once upon a time" to "kingdom come" - you are God. So don't return us to mud, saying, "Back to where you came from!" Patience! You've got all the time in the world - whether a thousand years or a day, it's all the same to you. Are we no more to you than a wispy dream, no more than a blade of grass That springs up gloriously with the rising sun and is cut down without a second thought? Your anger is far and away too much for us; we're at the end of our rope. You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed since we were children is entered in your books. All we can remember is that frown on your face. Is that all we're ever going to get? We live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), And what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard. Who can make sense of such rage, such anger against the very ones who fear you? Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! Come back, God - how long do we have to wait? - and treat your servants with kindness for a change.Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we'll skip and dance all the day long. Make up for the bad times with some good times; we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime. Let your servants see what you're best at - the ways you rule and bless your children. And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do! (Psalm 90:1-17)
This has been a very special week for me, and for my wife, Nellie. We have been on a renewal retreat with Rev. & Mrs. Bill (Jody) Henderson on Galveston Island. Bill invited me to join him on a birding photography shoot. It was educational, relaxing, and work! Had someone told the young Eradio back in the days of Kingsville that at my age now I would be shooting birds I might have replied, "What kind of gun will I be using?" I was a bird shooter one I knew how to use weapons. My grandfather Carlos taught me how to make my own slingshots, and that was it for many birds. Then one Christmas, like the boy in Christmas Story, I got my own BB gun, and more birds hit the dust. Not a very pleasant "once upon a time" part of my life. I did have that moment when standing on my street, Avenue A in Kingsville, I saw something hopping in the alley and I shot at it. I saw that I hit it, and I ran over to see what it was that I had killed. It was a bird. I threw down my gun and swore that would be the last thing I ever killed. I was convicted of my actions and I asked for forgiveness. This week showed me how beautiful God has made so many different birds. Leaving our hotel at 7 we would drive to spots where people had reported different birds, and we would drive or walk towards those places. If you are on FaceBook, you may have seen some of the shots I took this week, and if you are not part of my group, Morning Walk, please email me and I will add you to that Facebook group to see some of the pictures I was able to take. Bill was most patient in lending me a lens and helping me learn settings for taking these pictures. From lunch time on, we were tourists on this historic and interesting island, and we ate at some of the best places in the state. (Pray for me as I have a doctor's appointment on Monday and I may have to account for my wellbeing!)
This psalm continues the Lectionary readings for this week, all centered on our giving account to God of how we have lived our lives, what we have done, what we have given back, and how we have shared our faith. The time spent in silence among nature has reinforced my faith that says I have lived in God as my home. God's faithfulness has never diminished, and God's mercy is still the same when we ask for forgiveness. God does keep track of our sins, "every misdeed since we were children is entered in Your books," but those can be erased upon request. We can, and should start and end each day with a clean slate as we begin and end our days in prayer. God has taught us to live wisely and well and we should invite the Lord to be at our side at all times. May we always affirm the work God is doing among us, so that God will affirm our work for Him.
PRAYER: Awesome God, for all You have shared, we are thankful. Your beauty, Your creation, all that we have seen and appreciated this week has blessed our lives. We pray for Your continued presence and peace in our lives, so that we may bless others. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Show your love for God to somebody today!
Eradio Valverde
PS: My appreciation to Rev. Bill Henderson for this week. He has been my partner in Christ for many years starting way back in our early days in ministry. Bill served on my board of directors when I was a campus ministry and helped open doors for my ministry in Southwest Texas Conference. Thanks for being patient and funny always. Thanks to Jody for the time you spent with Nellie this week. It was a relaxing week for us both, and we are blessed! Thanks to Pastor Matt Pennington for his gracious spirit in understanding my needs and commitments; I am blessed to work alongside him at this stage of my ministry! And thank you readers for your faithfulness and understanding. Being in a hotel with a fickle internet resulted in a partial ConCafe yesterday, which thankfully I caught and was able to send a complete second edition. The same thing happened today, but I was aware today that "Oops something went wrong" means to check the internet connection and connect again. Love to you all!
