Linda and I were in Wisconsin a few weeks ago, and we drove by the building of the church we established over 35 years ago. It feels good to drive by the building and know that all that work paid off…that there is still a strong and growing congregation there.

I took a class in seminary called Theology of Prayer. It was beneficial to explore every passage in Scripture about prayer throughout the semester. One of the projects for that class involved completing a week of thanksgiving and writing a report on that week. The project was pretty easy but remarkably valuable.

My youngest granddaughter, River, is almost two. The other day, she brought her mom’s phone to her and asked, “Papa?”

So Erica FaceTimed me and gave the phone to her. I answered, and we talked for a bit (though River’s talk was mostly gibberish). When I hung up and my face disappeared from the screen, she got upset. Erica texted me that River threw a fit when I disappeared. So I took a selfie and texted it to her and said, “Just give her the phone with this on it.”

I had a shooting pain down my arm. I tried a lot of things. I bought an elastic band that was supposed to make it feel better. I used analgesic. My wife would massage my hand, forearm, and elbow, where the pain was the strongest. I tried sleeping differently so I would no longer sleep on it, thinking that might be what it was.

I’m slow in using the term “revival.” I didn’t jump on the Asbury bandwagon a couple of years ago, and my response to those who asked was, “Well, a real revival is a rise to consistency. Whether or not this is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit will be evident by the number of lives changed over the long haul. When revival happens, church attendance surges, as do conversions to Christ.”

“If you are going through hell, keep going.” ― Winston S. Churchill

A bunch of our Bridge brothers and sisters are feeling that now. And I’m not just talking about the marathon they are running. Some of you are facing major upheaval in your life. We have recent widows and widowers. We have heartbreaking situations with kids. There’s job loss and financial collapse. The wife who just told you she’s done. Alzheimer’s diagnosis…or cancer.