Tuesday, March 5, 2013

'Streams in the Desert'



It was December of 1986, my last ladies Bible study. Shortly after Christmas we would be packing for the move we would make in January. So much had changed in those few years since coming to New York; Rog and I had changed. God had grown us, stretched us, and brought us to the realization that He had plans for our future that we would never have dreamed of. This small group of ladies had become so dear. I was the young wife and mother in the bunch, and they had mentored and encouraged me in ways I had not expected.

It was here I began to write for our church newsletter. It was here I began to lead the Ladies Bible Study. It was here I began to teach Sunday School and work with the teens and children in the church and Christian School. It was here I began to reach out into the community, visiting families and bringing their children to church on a church bus. I was like a sponge, soaking up all these godly women were pouring into me. The foundation had actually been laid earlier in Virginia with a Bible study I was involved in there, but it was in Saratoga Springs that I began to put into practice some of the things I had begun to understand about what it meant to really live for Christ.

As we sat around the table that snowy December morning in my friend’s kitchen, there were mixed emotions. Some people have lived in one area their entire lives. They live and work and worship with many of the same friends and family they have grown up with and known all their lives. I’m beginning to get a sense of what that is like. We have been here in West Virginia now going on 20 years! We have strong ties and bonds here now. And I enjoy this, seeing the roots go ever deeper as the years pass. But I also treasure the memories of these earlier days in my “growing up years”, spiritually speaking, as a young wife and mother. Roger had not long come to the realization that God’s desire for him was to serve as a preacher, and probably as a pastor. That of course meant that I would be a pastor’s wife!! Not in a million years would I have seen myself in that role just a few short years prior. There was much education and training before us, but after much prayer and counsel we were convinced of the direction we would be going. I was excited, but yet overwhelmed with thoughts of where this decision might take us. But God had prepared us and brought us to this point; He was going before us, and we were embarking on this journey together as a family.

Our goodbyes said in the midst of hugs and tears, we prayed together, and they prayed for me and Rog and our young family, that God’s hand of blessing would be on us. Lynn Greene, one of these sweet ladies, then gave me a gift that I use to this day. It was a copy of Mrs. Charles E. Cowman’s Streams in the Desert, a daily devotional, now a classic. How many times have the Scriptures and the articles in this collection brought to me ‘a word in due season’…at crucial times in my walk with the Lord, ups, downs, highs, lows. Even though I have used a number of devotionals through the years (in fact, I collect them!) I would find myself going back to this one over and over again on some certain, some random days. The wisdom of saints in these pages! Men and women that have gone before me that have seen the faithfulness of God in so many ways, it just always speaks volumes to me. I also will often read the note Lynn wrote to me in the front cover:


Dear Angela,
May the Lord bless you and your Bible Study. May he continue to use you in the lives of other
ladies. May He be with you and help you to uplift your husband an d family in His great work for
the Lord. May you in “all ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your path.”
Love In Him,
Lynn Green, Ps 107:29


With the Lord’s great grace and His enablement, I am trying to continue to do this, Lynn! God’s Word is even more a treasure to me now than it was then. I continue to make myself available to other ladies both old and young to encourage and teach and minister with (though I am still learning so much from so many!); I continue to strive to be the help my husband needs as a loving, supportive wife; my children and my grandchildren are still my priority and my joy to love and serve; and I continue to trust the Savior to guide and direct my every step. He has directed our paths to this point and I know He will be faithful to see us safely to His desired place for us as we keep following hard after Him.

And that Streams I was given? It is still a favorite and a faithful companion, not only in my devotional time, but any time I need the wealth of wisdom and inspiration it provides.

I leave you with some of my favorite thoughts from its pages. BE BLESSED!



The problem of getting great things from God is being able to hold on for the last half hour.-----selected
March 5, on Hebrews 3:14

He has kept you hitherto; do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms. ----J. Hudson Taylor, February 8.

“Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Ex. 20:21). God has still His hidden secrets, hidden from the wise and prudent. Do not fear them; be content to accept things that you cannot understand; wait patiently. Presently He will reveal to you the treasures of darkness, the riches of the glory of the mystery. Mystery is only the veil of God’s face. Do not be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life. God is in it. ----selected; March 14