Clouds

When I was a kid, I had this straw mat that I would take out to the back yard and laying on it would stare at the sky. I loved watching the clouds and deciding what each one looked like. If you know me very well you can probably guess which animal many of them came out looking like to me.

This past week though I have been thinking about a different kind of cloud. The kind talked about in Hebrews 12:1 -- that great cloud of witnesses. Partly I've been thinking about it because I've entered into the 2nd Hebrews study through a Precepts class. But another reason was because I recently was invited to my home church for missions Sunday. Another missionary there had also been part of my home church...the original one on Brackenridge Avenue. He and I reminisced a little and I thought about the Newcomers, Waddings, Eckenrods and so many others. During the service they talked about the "Walk for Hunger. " Back in the day I was walking it, it was called the Crop Walk and most every year I got to walk with Mr. Eckenrod. When I think about it, he was a much taller person than me and must have had to slow his pace for me to keep up. I think about the many Saints who have more recently departed as well, from my Dad, to Karen H. and even Mr. Flick whose wife we were privileged to visit with over the weekend. It makes you think about the great things God accomplished through the lives of believers now safely at Home with Him and wonder about what He is or may accomplish through your own life. It brings out the meaning and import of Ephesians 4:1-3 that much more keenly (walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace). "Walk in a manner worthy of the calling . . . " Something to think about...