Ensign: Avery Marie, Blessed Among Women

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3


AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                        5 August 2016

Happy Birthday Mom!


And the angel came in unto her, and said,

And happy one-month day to our great-niece Avery Marie, our niece Breanna's daughter. I still have the photo on my nightstand of our wedding party where Breanna was a junior bridesmaid thirteen years ago. Hard to believe that little girl has grown, and is continuing to grow, into a marvelous woman. One month down, two hundred fifteen to go!

Hail, thou that art highly favored,


As I said at top, today is also my mom's birthday. That is, she would be eighty years old today if she hadn't died -- is it un-Christian of me that I don't use euphemisms for death? -- several years ago. Truth, both my parents are dead (Mom in 2012, Dad in 2006) but my mom is the one parent both my kids got to meet. Seriously, we have pictures. Pre-smart phone, hard copy pictures.

the Lord is with thee:


Yes, Jesus said that he had come that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, but that didn't and doesn't negate that for you and I that death is a part of life. I must admit I really don't like the thought of dying, but we all know people who seem preoccupied with it, preoccupied enough that they don't really live. Heck, maybe we're one of them.

blessed art thou among women.

The passages I've got interspersed between paragraphs above are what the angel Gabriel first says to Mary who will give birth to Jesus the Son of God in the flesh. It's Luke 1:28 but please keep reading. Since the mid-eleventh century it's also been part of a prayer in many churches, formally known as the Ave Maria or Hail Mary prayer for its first two words.


There's quite a few prayers in the Bible as well (seventy-two by one standard reference, though other passages are certainly open to your interpretation of "prayer") but we're not limited to them. Some of them might not even make sense coming out of our mouths, some are extraordinarily time-specific, but the most heartfelt prayer is the one you make yourself.


(Those were either crickets chirping or shouts of heresy just now.)


Despite popular belief among people who personally know me, I am terrible with words. So praying as a formal activity is hard for me not because I have nothing to say (hah!) but because it's hard for me to believe that some parts of my life He even cares about. It's points like that -- when like I said above that maybe we're one of them -- when I need to pray something.


Even if it's gibberish to the rest of the world, the point is you're not praying to the rest of the world "deliver me" or "have mercy on me a sinner" or "help thou my unbelief", you're praying to God Almighty, Our Father which art in heaven. He sees through the gibberish, He reaches past the fear, and the Father who numbers every hair on your head and tracks a sparrow falling to the ground


-- that's from Matthew 10:29-30 but please keep reading --


hears you, hears me, and really knows us. As I said, Avery's one month old today and kids that age typically don't talk much. I loved her reaction when I asked her after church one Sunday what she thought of the service; it was a loud "waa"! And the last time we saw Mom before she died, when she may not have understood a lot of what we said and she heard around her, it was a different one.


God, thank You for hearing and responding to us when we don't have the words. Blessed are we.

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you in my address book, and I hope it encourages us too! If it's not or you just want me to get lost, please let me know. Thank you!


Thank YOU, Lord, that we can come to you in prayer and that we can count on You to provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. And we come to you in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and all over the world.


Thank You as well, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You also for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You by Your Son Our Brother, Jesus Christ.


And I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.