These words have been in our lives and on our refrigerator door for several years now. We've learned through the years that keeping our focus on God makes us strong. We do our best to remember this verse every day. It is a reminder to us all year and is our guide just as Jesus was given to us as our example. At Christmas we stop and are reminded of Jesus and his humanness. He had what appeared to be strong friendships, but he always went to God for ultimate direction. His birth is our hope, and he is the supreme mentor to us all."The man who kneels to God can stand up to anything."
As this is our 20th Christmas together, we look back at the deaths, the births, the nontraditional holidays in a second marriage, the illnesses both physical and emotional in our family and friends, the service, the joy and the passages we all realize when we really reflect on our lives. We remember that our happiest and most peaceful times come when we know that we can listen to God and do the best we know to do, but realize that God created this world and all that follows.
We remember a Christmas during our first years together as we attended our Christmas Eve Service here. Starting new traditions together was not without growing pains, but we had our whole family with us and it snowed! We looked around us and became aware that many among us were carrying their own "sack of rocks," as a friend from Reklaw once said. As we looked at our friends at church that night, we became aware of such spiritual strength. We know that when we kneel to God, his power makes us stronger than we ever thought we could be by ourselves. We knew that the greatest examples were among us that night.
Billie and Chuck Hopson---2003
Lord, I choose to kneel before You.
You are my Lord, You are my strength.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James 4:10 NIV84
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