I am preaching at Grace Baptist Church in Bethlehem, NC this week. The Pastor is Brother Marcus Benfield. We have been having a good week thus far. The people are receptive and friendly. The services have been free and I have had good liberty to preach. The folks have been very responsive in the invitation. Please pray for this meeting. We have two more evenings this week and I am looking, and longing, for the Lord to do some great things for us.

Our family is just about 8 days away from the birth of Johanna Carswell. In case you may not remember, Johanna is the daughter of my daughter Nikki and her husband Chad. Johanna was diagnosed with Full Trisomy 18, or Full Edwards Syndrome in April. As I mentioned, on this blog in April, Full Trisomy 18 is a terrible genetic disorder with a 100% mortality rate. This simply means that we may not have Johanna for very long in this world. So, pray for her Mom and her Dad. They are hurting and and they are looking to the Lord for grace to help in this time of need. They are finding that He is a very present help in trouble. Praise Him for that! Anyway, Johanna will be born on Friday October 23rd early in the morning. Our family would appreciate your prayers on that day and for the days following.

As we have walked this road as a family, several passages of Scripture have given me hope and comfort. The one that I have leaned on the hardest is Psalm 115:3, which says, “But our God is in the heavens: He hath cone whatsoever He hath pleased.” At the end of the day, whatever happens with Johanna, was the Lord’s will for her life and for our family, and that is good enough for me. I will discover, as I heard someone say a while back, “Whatever God does is just what I wanted.” Thanks and God bless!

Alan