God in Control

  At noontime today, Good Friday, Don and I worshipped in church in remembrance of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.     As I sat next to Don, we sang about the cross and Calvary, prayed as Pastor Bjork led and listened with some 600 churchgoers.     As we participated in the Holy Communion, my thoughts led me to an experience I had in the now distant past when I was a young 22-year-old teacher.     I reprint it from the   Christian Standard , published January 28, 2001, Standard Publishing, Cincinnati, OH.   MEDITATION   Many years ago, one of my students in the Christian high school where I taught in southern Philippines almost gave his life for me.  One night two men, attempting to harm me, schemed to use my young student to lure me out of the teachers’ dormitory where I stayed.  They were unsuccessful in their plot, however.  Frustrated, they assaulted the young man, beating him up until he passed out....

  As we moved out of San Francisco where we have lived for more than 40 years, we were sad to lose our friends there and worried about making new friends in Arizona.     Little did we know that God had planned this for us, along with the house He picked for us, the Church we should go to, the nursing home for my older sister that we were caring for and other issues that come with such moves.     Three years later, we share our story.  Our snowbird neighbors to the left and right of us readily accepted us and have become good friends.  So did the couple across the street. Bob, our snowbird neighbor who spends the summer in their Flagstaff ranch, came within an hour of our arrival.  He warned us about the coyotes that frequent the golf course behind our house.  Suzie, who spends the hot months in Nebraska, gave us a diagram of our street with the names of the neighbors.  Charlotte, from across the street, gave us t...