Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above…
…join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided – great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!
Thomas O. Chisholm, 1866-1960
Last Thursday, friend Hannah and I took Seth and Sarah out for a winter walk the day after a fresh snowfall. The trees were covered in gobs of snow, and the wind kept blowing them, down and down. The children, all bundled up like fat teddy bears, opened their mouths to eat some.
In fact, we had somewhat of a struggle, just keeping them off the ground, they were so industrious with their angels and snow-eating!
I love the words to the old hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness.
God is especially near to me today, as I think about my school children, who are all in lock down at school. A bullet was found on one of the buses this morning, and as a precaution the administration has ordered a lock down until they know what’s going on. I understand, and I know, that all of our schools are hurting and need to be so very careful, after what happened in Newtown. My mama heart aches for this time we live in.
As far as I am able, I will not live my life in fear for what might happen. Part of me thinks, “If I were still homeschooling the children I wouldn’t have to deal with this sort of thing.” Or, would I? Is it logical or wise to stay away from any places of possible danger? If it were, there would be no place to go. The safest place to be is in the hands of God, and that is where I have placed myself and my family for all time, come what may.
I do know one thing, I’ll be EXTRA happy to have my precious children back home at the end of this day!
Please say a little prayer for us, dear friends! Thank you so much.
Much love to you all.
**********************
I’m writing this at the end of the day. The children are home now, just a little worn out from the day. Jacob was in lock down in the boy’s locker room for a while. It got so cold that the teacher recieved permission to move them to another room. Ethan and his class spent 2 hours on the floor of his classroom and then was able to get up and sit at his desk. All in quiet. Grace’s teacher used the time to read out loud to the class, which I appreciated. David and Caleb were fine, as I think they were sheltered more from the whole story.
Thank you to those who saw this in time to pray for us. I appreciate it!
Good to be Home 
“Is it logical or wise to stay away from any places of possible danger? If it were, there would be no place to go. The safest place to be is in the hands of God, and that is where I have placed myself and my family for all time, come what may.”Well said! I will say a special prayer for you and your children’s safety. I can totally relate, on the first day of school this year, my children’s school was evacuated because of a possible bomb threat. We were lucky and it was just a misunderstanding. I pray for the same thing for you!
in the hands of God is where I stay also – prayers for your precious children and precious children everywhere!
Praying!!!
Oh shanda this brings years to my eyes! I will pray. The hymn says it all… Great is gods faithfulness .. And he will not forsake those who are his!
Praying a prayer for you… Thankful for God’s grace in giving His peace and trust in Him. Love youBridgette
It does not matter how the government do this, still there is always great danger occur at any school these days. Instead of just banning guns or any kind of weapon, they should have build up a security system for the school that no kids go out simply without permission and no strangers comes in without any sort of identity card of whatever that may identifying them to prevent sort of danger. They should pay more of those security guards to guard the school esp during school week and do more patrolling inside and also outside the school compound too.They should focus more on such too.I love the winter photos of your friend and the kids. You people seems to enjoy every second of the this moment and cherish it as memories … The kids will always remember this. *smile*
Praying for you and the children.
That is my favorite hymn of all time. Sorry to hear about the trouble at school. You are right though. We need to trust God with our lives and our family every day. There is no joy or victory in being locked away in fear all the time. He is more than able to keep what belongs to Him! Blessings!
May the children, and teachers all be safe.
I just prayed for protection for your children and for your schools. God is faithful. Love the picture of the “snow andgels.”
@weedorwildflower – Thank you so much for your note and the link. I can’t wait to read it. The children are all home now, safe and sound. I added a little extra info. at the end of the post. (hugs)
@Bobby Jo – I need the link to your blog, please! When I tried to visit it said the page wasn’t available. Thanks for the prayers, we’re all okay, and home, for another day. ((thankful))
A wonderful ending..especially the pic of all their sweet faces! God is good. Thank you!
Look at that beautiful bunch safely at home!!!
Glad all is well. Thank you, Lord.
oh, shanda i had read this earlier on my phone and i did pray. i know exactly what you mean about wondering, “if i were still homeschooling..” i remember feeling that same way w/ sandy hook. but you’re right. that doesn’t guarantee their safety. we can’t live in fear, but relying on His faithfulness. still.. moments like you went through this morning sure stretch our mama hearts! gulp. i’m so glad all was well and your babies are all home again. i know you must have been really happy to see them all get off the bus! beautiful shots. so peaceful. funny how i like snow shots from every one else, but i look out my own window and feel a little tired of winter! ;))
I can’t imagine how worried you must have been. However, we can’t live in fear. At Christmas time (2 years ago)they caught a man who was putting some type of bomb in a garbage can at the mall, so when someone threw something in there, it would explode. We were there that day. I kept thinking..what if I would have asked one of my kids to throw something away? I now throw things away myself and always wonder…is the garbage can safe? Silly I know, but that’s what fear does to us.Glad everyone made it home safe and sound.God is Faithful…always. Happy Friday to you.
I so love your words, as we look to God, He does hold us in his hands. Thought of you and prayed so many times yesterday. Our pastor is in Newtown right now seeking to minister to the emergency personal and police,as well as to anyone else the Lord connects him with. It is a part of our emergency organization that goes out to help in times of need. He is a chaplain with the sheriff’s office here, so has a great understanding. Love the snowy woods, and the cute little pink faced “bears”.
The safest place to be is in the hands of God, and that is where I have placed myself and my family for all time, come what may.AMEN!
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS IS A SONG I LOVE TO LEAD FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS–(1)-THE MESSAGE IS AWESOME -(2) – THE MESSAGE IS TRUE – IT WAS MY WIFE INEZ FAVORITE SONG AND WAS SUNG AT HER FUNERAL THE MESSAGE IS ETCHED ON HER STONE. (3) – THE HARMONY IS BEAUTIFUL.