Tagged: hope for families

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—      yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. Isaiah 11:1 The gnarly, knotted olive tree must have been at least 100 years old, planted by the grandfather of the two sons who built our house in the ancient walled city. Evidently, at one time, its main trunk was chopped off, leaving a stubby stump still joined at the base of the tree. From a side branch grew a now-thriving tree that towered over the wall and hung heavy with olives at harvest time. During our first spring in the house, strong, green shoots began to appear in abundance from the old stump. The principle was not lost on me. God brings… Read More

Afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and I will lay your foundations with sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones.  Isaiah 54:11-12 There is a fat-bellied bird in Britain who has two names. Ornithologists call him a Mistle Thrush, but in the countryside where he is often seen, he is known as the Storm Thrush because of his tendency to sing in the midst of strong winds. A story is told about a poet who was awakened in the night, not by the fierce storm that ravaged outside, for indeed it was enough to wake the deepest sleeper, but by a rich and… Read More