Shout for Joy

    My son is away at college -- and it has been a rather difficult few weeks for him. Every time he called, I could tell from his first "Hello" that it would not be good news. He missed the first day of class because he was sick, and since it is a 6 hour baking lab, he started the class a little behind.  Then he lost his wallet and it was missing for about 4 days before he got it back. The very next weekend, he dropped his credit card in a store and the person who found it used it to make some purchases before he was aware that it was missing.  Then he worked all weekend writing a paper for his class -- the same one he missed at the beginning -- only to find out that he used the wrong topic so the teacher could not give him credit for it.
    And if you are a mom, you know that all the things that happened to him -- happened to me, too.  I have spent a LOT of time praying this month!!  And I am happy to say that everything has worked out -- and he will be home for spring break tomorrow.

    During these stressful times, I happened to find Psalm 20 that spoke peace to my soul. My niece Kellie mentioned last year that she was reading through the Bible using the "She Reads Truth" app -- and I looked it up and decided to do the same thing.  However, I am behind in my reading because I am not as faithful with my reading as she was.  But Psalm 20 came up just when I needed it.  Here are some of the phrases:
 "May the Lord answer you when you are in distress.
 May He send you help.
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
The Lord gives victory to his anointed."

I prayed these things for Andrew, and now I must shout for joy and lift up my banner -- or my blog -- in the name of our God. The Lord did answer and send help, and I am so grateful.  I am sure the writer of the Psalm was not stressing out over finals and lost credit cards.  But isn't it amazing how the Word written thousands of years ago can still speak today?