Finding peace in Scripture

I wrote this post a year ago, holding it in reserve to post in future. I wrote this before the unexpected death of my darling husband, Will, in November of 2016.
These words are even more meaningful to me now, and I hope will touch your heart too and help you if you need to feel peace. I know our Shepherd cares for us tenderly.

 
Sometimes I need help in finding peace or ease, in a stressful situation. This may be true for you too.
One thing I did years ago is to type my favorite Bible verses on a small piece of paper, laminate it, and keep it in my purse. You can buy little packets of laminating paper at office supply stores, 3 x 5 inches or so, that are sticky on one side only, so use two of them a bit bigger than your paper. Easy peasey and cheap protection for your verses.
The verses I have in my purse are about God protecting us and quite a few of them are in Psalms.

"Behold! I send an angel before you to protect you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared." Exodus 23:20

"But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." Psalm 59:16

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:39 KJV 

Many translations of Psalm 91 speak to my heart. Here is the poetic KJV. " I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; ... There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Psalm 91:2-11

What a beautiful thing, that he gives his angels charge over us, to keep us in all our ways. 
"The answer to anxiety is the adoration of Christ", Ann Voskamp.

A Favorite Book, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

It is only a few days in to 2017 and I am sure The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick will be on my favorite novels of the year list. Arthur is lonely and depressed after the death of his wife when he discovers a gold charm bracelet of hers which he did not give her and had not seen before. He gains a new passion for life as he searches through the help of the charms to find out more about his wife’s early life, and begins with a phone number which leads him to a man in India. He has an encounter with a huge tiger roaming on a rundown British estate, and I laughed out loud at the comic danger Arthur was in. He makes friends far and wide on his quest, from his nearby neighbor Bernadette to a woman who owns a dress shop in Paris. This is very upbeat, fulfilling and hopeful, and a needed antidote to hard times  at my home.
I am joining Rose City Reader for her Book Beginnings on Fridays posts.
Here is the beginning of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper:
"The Surprise in the Wardrobe." (Chapter one). Each day Arthur got out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m. just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. " Skipping ahead a few sentences, his kind neighbor brought him food, which he did not appreciate. The book continues "Last week he had found a sausage roll in his hallway, peeking out of its paper bag like a frightened animal."