Dear Harpeth Hills Family,

The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance. – Oswald Chambers

A few thoughts as we enter another time of worship and praise away from each other…
Perspective
Perspective changes everything. A first mission trip to a third world country changes one’s perspective forever. Only when one loses a parent, a child, or close friend, does one’s perspective change about life.
With time and distance, what will we remember “that period back in early 2020 when the world was affected by a deadly virus?” When everything we thought we had some control of – turned out we didn’t.
Will we remember this time as life changing or even a Heavenly gift from the Trinity or a terrible time of disruption and disturbance that wrecked our lives and seemed to never come to an end?

Perseverance
Perseverance is more than endurance – more than simply holding on until the end. As Oswald Chambers said, “A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while, the saint says, ‘I can’t take any more.’ Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until HIS purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly.”
During this season, can’t we all say we need more perseverance? We have been given a gift of time that if spent wisely will deepen our intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith.

Peace
Kristene DiMarco in her recorded version of – It is Well with My Soul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNqo4Un2uZI) reminds us –

Grander earth has quaked before
Moved by the sound of His voice
Seas that are shaken and stirred
Can be calmed and broken for my regard
And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And through it all, through it all
It is well
And far be it from me to not believe
Even when my eyes can’t see
So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name
And it is well with my soul
Oh it is well with my soul (’cause of who you are)
And through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And it is well with me

And all the saints cry, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

We love you dearly. Until the time we see each other in the flesh, keep pressing in.

-Your Shepherds