Jesus prayed for all of us
“May they all be one,
Father, may they be one in us,
As you are in me and I am in you,
So that the world may believe it was you who sent me.
John 17.21 JB
I have a long history of worshiping the Lord in Church and of being part of God’s family. It has not always been in the same family home with the same branch of the family; but it has always been in God and He in me. He has carried me along, sheltered and warmed me as we journeyed and I have known only warmth and welcome amongst brothers and sisters … whatever the name on the church sign board.
These recent days, I have been remembering different ones from those fellowships and spending a little time reflecting on their generous sharing of fellowship, time and wisdom.
Col. Cook and his wife had been Missionaries in the days when China did not warmly welcome Missionaries; and I knew somewhere, I still had a precious bookmark carefully tucked away, but where? So began a careful search of bibles, and books, I have many. It took 3 days of searching; in between other tasks but finally I found it.
My fruit is better than fine gold:
What I yield surpasses choice silver
Proverbs 8:19 N.I.V.
I cannot find a version of the Bible which uses the word gifts rather than fruit (other than the NLT. which was not in print in 1970s) – perhaps one of my readers can throw some light on that. Certainly this dear man and his wife blessed me with the fruit of wisdom harvested in their long years of serving the Lord in a difficult place. They never preached down at me, simply gave the gift of friendship and understanding.
Now I have reached their age, and I hope and intend to offer friendship, warmth an open heart and listening ear to any young person seeking to learn and know Jesus better.
Lord, you are the one who nurtures and cares for us
Lord, you are the one who carried us, and carries us
All the days of our life;
Giving us Wisdom’s fruit, ripened through the years,
Now grant us Grace,
That each heart may be
A welcoming place –
For you,
And that we may be truly one.
Always, Jean
I bless the Lord for the Gift of Years.
Fresh Whispers 
Love that bookmark! (and the reflection, of course)
I loved it at the time it was gently placed into my Bible by Col. Cook. His bible was full of hand written notes. He did say to me that he started a new bible at the beginning and made notes as he went along and when there was no more room for notes it was time to buy a new bible. The bookmark has notes on the back on the Hebrew verb to wait! It was those notes I wanted to see again… thank you for reading.
Precious!