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A Seventy Year-Old Woman Listens to God

Hello friends:

"Since I was about 17, every night I pray certain verses from Psalm 18. I share this to encourage you to be attentive so you might hear the Lord in your quiet time too. I will share two of the times I heard the Lord speak to me." So shared a 70-some year old women about her personal experience with mediation and prayer as the Manchester Church of the Brethren worship began.

A few days later in a conversation with a neighbor friend Bob, he said to me, "You know God is always trying to speak to us, but the problem is we don't stop long enough so we can hear Him."

This all has made me try to be more attentive to what the Lord might be saying to me in my quiet time. Here's what came to me recently.

In reading Luke 9:12-17, the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples said, "Why don't we send them off to find lodging and food in the nearby villages?"

Jesus said, "You feed them."

They responded, "But there are only five loaves and a couple of fish here."

As I reflected on this, I felt similar to the disciples, wondering "What do we have to share about peacemaking that will feed all the people we will talk to in the next days at the Cornerstone Music Festival?"

But I heard the Lord saying to all of us working at the booth, "You feed them." So we will step out in faith and try.

My next letter will let you know what happened.

Thanks be to God for:

The passing of the US-Colombian foreign aid bill, which cut military aid by 156 million dollars. This has great potential to reduce the suffering of many Colombians and to begin to bring an end to this 45 year-old civil war. Thank you for your prayers and acts to bring this about.

To pray about:

The burglary at the Colombian offices of Justapaz and Fellowship of Reconciliation of human rights documents which puts in jeopardy the lives of many Colombian church people who spoke out for justice, truth, and peace.

Peace,

Jim

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