As I sit in my Quiet Circle, I contemplate the help God provided in the middle of unthinkable endings. It is here that I raise my Ebenezer. Understand that this Ebenezer is not the curmudgeonly character from Dickens' Christmas Carol. It is a symbolic stone used to commemorate how God showed up, guided, affirmed, protected, extended mercy, and made the path straight when everything was hard for the Israelites. It comes from Prophet Samuel’s prayer for protection in the face

Ever here. Ever near. I used these words to close the message I sent to inform family of Lisa’s new challenge. I used them to emphasize that God is bigger and closer than what we face. Those words have been my anchor, my lullaby, and my embrace. I think about the people who expect God to do things their way. When they don’t see some expected change, they don’t see what God is doing. I continue to be overwhelmed where God shows up in details I would not have known to ask for.