Little Did I Know
Little Did I Know by Sharon Rapp, Bible Study Editor
Little did I know … looking at that beautiful Quarterly cover photo …
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15
proofreading text … working through the Bible studies another time … Little did I know … reading ahead of publication the wonderful article about comfort dogs and their work in Joplin, Sandy Hook, and elsewhere … Little did I know … that less than a week later, I would be meeting Jackson (Romans 12:15), Jessy (Psalm 28:6), and Louie (Luke 10:27), just three blocks from home, and that several comfort dogs would spend several days in our area … Little did I know … although predictions of turbulent weather were being stressed so much that long-planned events were being cancelled … Little did I know … that those predictions of strong storms would prove all too true, that at about 7:30 on Sunday evening, April 27, 2014, a tornado (later described as EF4 with winds of almost 200 mph) would enter our county and vent a great deal of its fury on Mayflower, 10 miles south of our city, and Vilonia, 10 miles east. (Reports later placed the number of lives lost in central Arkansas at 16 and the number of homes destroyed at more than 300.) … Little did I know … our congregation would soon, and for many weeks, become a hub of local, district, and national relief efforts … Little did I know … the commitment of the handlers who undergo hours of training, travel many miles, give up time with family, begin and end long days with devotion and prayer, see and hear tragic stories as they trust the Holy Spirit to guide their work … Little did I know … the heart pull of these tranquil golden retrievers, the strength of the invitation to “pet me,” the calming sensation of running fingers through their coats … Little did I know … the depth of focus of children — and adults — drawn to a hug on the floor in the middle of a crowd, to a touch at the altar during a children’s sermon, to love on four paws … Little did I know … that everything I had seen and read about this amazing outreach would seem understated when experienced in three dimensions … … that our God is blessing this ministry and, through these beautiful animals, those who experience it; that hope is reaching countless individuals in the most dire of circumstances; and that, in the midst of life out of control, many are hearing for the first time the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This I know
Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy (Psalm 28:6). And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself ” (Luke 10:27).
Lu t h e r a n W o m a n ’ s Q ua r t e r ly
23
Little did I know … looking at that beautiful Quarterly cover photo …
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15
proofreading text … working through the Bible studies another time … Little did I know … reading ahead of publication the wonderful article about comfort dogs and their work in Joplin, Sandy Hook, and elsewhere … Little did I know … that less than a week later, I would be meeting Jackson (Romans 12:15), Jessy (Psalm 28:6), and Louie (Luke 10:27), just three blocks from home, and that several comfort dogs would spend several days in our area … Little did I know … although predictions of turbulent weather were being stressed so much that long-planned events were being cancelled … Little did I know … that those predictions of strong storms would prove all too true, that at about 7:30 on Sunday evening, April 27, 2014, a tornado (later described as EF4 with winds of almost 200 mph) would enter our county and vent a great deal of its fury on Mayflower, 10 miles south of our city, and Vilonia, 10 miles east. (Reports later placed the number of lives lost in central Arkansas at 16 and the number of homes destroyed at more than 300.) … Little did I know … our congregation would soon, and for many weeks, become a hub of local, district, and national relief efforts … Little did I know … the commitment of the handlers who undergo hours of training, travel many miles, give up time with family, begin and end long days with devotion and prayer, see and hear tragic stories as they trust the Holy Spirit to guide their work … Little did I know … the heart pull of these tranquil golden retrievers, the strength of the invitation to “pet me,” the calming sensation of running fingers through their coats … Little did I know … the depth of focus of children — and adults — drawn to a hug on the floor in the middle of a crowd, to a touch at the altar during a children’s sermon, to love on four paws … Little did I know … that everything I had seen and read about this amazing outreach would seem understated when experienced in three dimensions … … that our God is blessing this ministry and, through these beautiful animals, those who experience it; that hope is reaching countless individuals in the most dire of circumstances; and that, in the midst of life out of control, many are hearing for the first time the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This I know
Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy (Psalm 28:6). And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself ” (Luke 10:27).
Lu t h e r a n W o m a n ’ s Q ua r t e r ly
23
