Family aid

11:23 p.m. Today's project was to decorate our stair banisters with huge pieces of green garland, and then add lights to them up and down the stairs. I'm not sure how many more years I can keep this up, but since today is all we have (a quote I heard recently), the English Christmas village is already set up and ready to light this evening; "the stockings are hung by the chimney with care;" and I'll be serving hot chocolate and popcorn to my husband and daughter Heather tonight as we work to the tune of a favorite Christmas CD.  

Today Steve and I went to his primary care doctor to discuss his emotional issues, especially his depression. It's not surprising that he would be depressed, because he expressed his heart to our pastor a few weeks ago, "Everybody is working except me." And just today, I came upon him three separate times sitting with his head bowed down in his hands. The first time I thought that he was praying, but that wasn't it. I asked him what was wrong, since he'd just been doing a light husehold errand, taking an empty box upstairs. He just shook his head. Like the second and third episodes, he had stopped in the middle of a task, probably overwhelmed by the fact that he couldn't remember what to do. I pray and encourage Steve, stay as practical and upbeat as I can, and help him get back on task.  Action is a great antidote to fear, especially when a person lives in dread of what will happen to him or her next. With no remembrance of God's deliverances over his 56 years of life, Steve feels doomed.  He also doesn't remember the good times we have, or the reassurances he has from me every day. Only the negatives seem to stick...

With the trials of this life and the constant onslaught of the devil against those who actively serve, lead and minister in the Body of Christ, we count on the Lord's deliverance, believe the promises in His Word are true, and comfort ourselves with His mighty works in the past. In a meditation subtitled "The Consoling Memory of God's Redemptive Works," Asaph wrote in Psalm 77:5-6, 10-12,

I have considered the days of old,
The years of ancient times.
I call to remembrance my song in
  the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit makes diligent search.
...
And I said, "This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of
  the right hand of the Most
  High."
I will remember the works of the
LORD;
Surely I will remember Your
  wonders of old.
I will meditate on all Your
  work,
And talk of Your deeds.
Your way, O God, is in the
  sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?

Whether it is God's people remembering in chorus the past deliverances of the Lord, or God sending our daughters to help us the past few days, the Lord Jesus is mindful, engaged, and loving to His children at all times. I wish that Steve could recall God's answers to prayer, but he can't, so I do what I can to stir up his confidence in God. I have the privilege of recounting God's work in my behalf, and so do you!