And this morning we begin again. A new day.

And today is the day we attend a memorial service for Bernie. And today marks five days (earth time) that he has been living, loving and laughing in Heaven. That is something to celebrate!

And yet we acknowledge in our human-ness we have sad-ness but this we know:

Isaiah 25:8-10 (New American Standard Bible)

8 He will swallow up death for all time,

And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,

And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;

For the LORD has spoken.

9 And it will be said in that day,

“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us

This is the LORD for whom we have waited;

Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

And until then we abide in this:

Lamentations 3:22-24 (New American Standard Bible)

22 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I have hope in Him.”

Amen and amen, ABBA, and it is so. Our hope is in You. You are our portion, Your loving kindness never ceases and we have tested it more often than we can even count and You, LORD, are forever faithful to us. Thank You. Our thoughts are with Linda and the family this morning. A bittersweet day I think. Hold them extra close we pray.

And we again bring Trisha and Jayden, Brian, Ricky, Chloe, the truck driver, Alex. These are to us serious, serious situations and we want to see You glorified in them and we want to see all these made better in minds, bodies and spirits. And we want them to be enabled by You Holy Spirit to receive all the love and mercy and healing and forgiveness that You have for them. Empower them today, we pray.

And Michael’s Family, this is a tough one we think and we pray that Your Presence will invade and be welcomed and will in time heal the grief. As we look over the list we are reminded of Joe and his need of salvation and so we pray for his heart to be tendered and his eyes to be opened to Your Truth. We pray for holy practicing Christians to cross his path as often as needed to lift You up before him.

It’s a long list, many people in need and collectively we bring them all for Your individual touch. And as in other days we specifically pray for our IDOK Troops for their protection today, for their mental and emotional wellbeing, and for their spirits to be renewed and refreshed. We pray for the peace of Israel, particularly the Peace of Jerusalem. We pray for faithful allies and we pray America will remain and even become a stronger and more faithful ally to Israel. And we pray for the American People, for grace and space to repent. Thank You LORD. I remember Bernie specifically let me know one day that he was amen-ing grace and space to repent for America. Thank You for letting me walk the season of life with Bernie that You did. We receive Your love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and every blessing You desire to give us today. We love You, ABBA, for the God and Father You are to us and we praise You LORD JESUS that it is because of You that we say ABBA and Holy Spirit thank You for delivering and sealing this Truth within us. You are AWESOME God and we love You. Oh, one more thing, specifically school children and grandparents on field trips, give them a safe, sweet, precious time today. Amen and amen. A SPECIFIC UNSPOKEN. Unspoken Requests – situations so close you can only speak to Father about. Trisha and Jayden. L. Brian T. Ricky M. Chloe Melissa Hennis. Linda and Family. Joe. Michael H. Linda W. Debbie W. Mike and Vickie. Family of Ann J. Moriah and her family. Natalie. Kathy and family. Tommy and Raye. Doug. Woman of Sadness. Frank. Jeanette. Mia and family. Joy and Evan. Gina. Francis T. Cathy T. Cathie R and family. Jacqueline and Sons (River and Jackson) Emily. Walt. Phillip. Margie and Craig. Sandra. Terry and family. Dot B. Julia O. Ann C. Stan and Jowanna and Family. Carolyn. Mary. Mabel. Amy, Kevin and Girls. Joan. David T’s Family. Kimberly. Shay and Emma’s Kids (orphanage in Zambia) Ministry. Susan D. Jason A and his mother. Wayne B. Melinda H. Trisha. Patti’s Family. Brennan and his family. Joshua. Branson. The O’Brien family. Kim and her Fiancee. Jonathan. Mabel’s Aunt Lou. Heather and Brandon. Darlene and Torkel. Edie G. Rachel. W C and family. Maggie and Family. Dylan. Joseph Toomey and Family. DeLois. Terri. Kim T. Kevin and the children. Katelyn (B). Janie B. Vickie. J Lloyd and family. Janet and Steve. Cathy. Caleb and family. Bay and family. Jennifer B. John and Carolyn and Family. Larry and Claudia and family. Taylor & family. David & Allison. Jeanette and Earl and family. Callie. Ruth. Cynthia. Martha F and Bob. Allyson and Glyn and family. Brittney and Kersten and family. Sheila and Andy. Carrie and Rachel and Jacob and family. Billy and Gina and boys. Lance and family. Grace and family. Tressa. Brad, Lindsay, Karah and Haley. Chuck. Windy and Jared and families. Helen and Dan and family. Jen and Larry and family. Mollie and family. Julia. Bobbie. Erin. Alan. Tj. Zack. Phillip. Jessica. Larry. Lance. Candance and Family. Laura and family. John and Sandy. Bill and Judy. Andrew and Daughters. Lee. Sharron and family, Linda and family, Bev and Family, Mollie B. Friends at work. Public and Private School Teachers. Every IDOK and every IDOK son and daughter and grandchild.

Every IDOK Pastor and Family. Every IDOK church.

IDOKs Military Families.

IDOKs Troops (foreign soil) – Ethan. Christopher. Raul. Robert. Billy. Buddy. Mark. Josh W. James. Bryan. Nick. Brant W. Christopher R. Joshua M. Brent. Drew. Justin G. Michael K. Sgt. Bozicevich. Bay N. T. Palin. John L. Richard M. Adam M. Bobby G. (added 12/16/08) Tommy T.

IDOK Troops leaving shortly for foreign soil: Brandon B. Kyle N. (3/26)

Serving Stateside: Jonathan. Jasmine B. Shaun. Bay. Danny. Lee. George. Travis N. Hawk. Justin G.

Injured: Lukas S. (11/30/08)

http://www.strafford1st.com/page25/page26/page26.html

Military at home – Tim. Mack. The 226. Troy. Brad. Tommy. Desi. Edward J. Lyndon A. Jason G. Captain Tran Josh.

And specifically those emotional/spirit wounds that only God and Time can heal

The Peace of Israel.

Revival in America.

As I post this it is 66°F and clear in Al Asad, IQ (Airport) & the time there is 2:39 PM AST on March 17, 2009.