Psalms 107:1
1. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Matthew 5:9 (ESV)
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Luke 6:35-36 (NLT)
35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

What a week in Illinois. A budget passed after unveiling hours before (with no public review) that is a spending frenzy pandering to the powerful. The unborn humans now have fewer rights than animals. Weed’s legal. Many folks are very, very happy.

As a parent who watched my children kick, and watched the hands arch across their mothers stomach, I simply don’t understand why the violence against these innocents is allowed. Having also known the other side of the issue and living with the sadness and hurt of those decisions for decades, it brings tears to my eyes.

I can’t imagine life without my children. I’ll never know life with the children who were never born.

I can’t imagine that this is OK with our loving God. Yet, as sad as it is, God is still in control, has always been in control, will continue to be in control. He has his reasons that I don’t need to understand. Faith.

1 Chronicles 29:11-13 (NLT)
11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. 12 Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.
13 “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NLT)
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.