I’ll pray to Him, each day to Him and I’ll never walk alone, while I walk with God”! He will not fail me as long as my faith is strong whatever road I may walk alone. I’ll lean on Him forever and He’ll forsake me never. There is no death though eyes grow dim, there is no fear when I’m near to him. This is my prayer, my humble plea - May the Lord be ever with me. You might enjoy softly singing these lyrics, searching deep inside your heart (that tough times could have hardened) with renewed love and respect for neighbors, while asking yourself if you indeed ‘go and do likewise’ as Jesus taught in the story of The Good Samaritan.
This could have been the song sung at the graduation of someone reading this story. She began singing lyrics that stirred the ending for this story. I thought about my class song, The Halls of Ivey, and asked about the song her class chose.
Thoughts of my sister’s graduation surfaced as she drove winding roads in the mountains of the state we call home. Reflecting on graduations across America, I prayed that all graduates would choose to walk with God while writing their love stories. While celebrating our family milestone, the Master was teaching lesssons about myself, how others see me, but most of all how God sees me “Walk on through the rain walk on through the wind, walk on through the storm with hope in your heart … and you’ll never walk alone.” May the message Jesus shared of God’s grace, goodness, greatest command to love our neighbor as ourselves, and command in Luke 10 to ‘go and do likewise’ tenderize hearts of all who read and share this story.
Faye – singing in heaven’s celestial choir – taught our youth choir in 1967, I thought of walking alone, people who help i Hopefully, this story will prompt pop ups of Good Samaritans God has placed in your path also. Are you thinking of family milestones and Good Samaritans sent your way in His perfect timing? Milestones celebrated with family create precious memories and hope for a future filled with happiness, peace, and love to cherish for as long as we shall live. Prayers for people all over the world in numbers too big to imagine - standing in stadiums, turning tassels, and starting new seasons where storms and sunshine will impact their storylines - flowed from my heart with tears wetting my freckled skin. My niece and nephew joined thousands of graduates from the University of Illinois ending one season and starting new ones with hope in their hearts. Walking on through the sea of people celebrating in the streets of Champaign, song lyrics downloaded in my heart with thoughts of God’s children across His creation walking on through storms and sunshine in happy and hurtful seasons. My sister’s generosity comes natural to her she doesn’t stop to weigh out in her mind … should I or shouldn’t I! She does like Nike’s logo - actually like Jesus taught - ‘Just Do It’!
Seeing her receive smiles, handshakes, even a hug from the woman in a wheelchair with no legs, who held two burgers close to her heart, made me proud of my sister’s good deed done in a spirit of love. In awe of God’s grace in action, my heart was convicted as my sister’s humble act of love surely made heavenly headlines. Heaven surely celebrated when my little sister (big in my eyes and God’s) gave His hungry, homeless children cheeseburgers and cups of water in His name. Thinking she was taking a bathroom break, I waited on the edge of the sidewalk - like unto the priest and Levite! Then, God gave us a glimpse of the lesson His Son taught in Luke 10 … someone seeing a need and doing something about it. Passing the homeless people again, my sister quietly slipped away and headed inside McDonald’s. Later that afternoon, we meandered through the crowds heading back to our cars. As he walked back to his homeless friends sitting on the sidewalk, my sister and I looked at one another with heartfelt compassion. During an afternoon stroll down a crowded college town street in Champaign, Illinois, we watched a man digging through a trash can looking for food to no avail. I have written before about celebrating family milestones with my sister at her son and daughter’s graduations. Have you pondered the power of ‘going and doing likewise’ as Jesus commanded in the Good Samaritan story shared in Luke?