Hitherto Hath the Lord Helped Us

“She writes well because of the difficult things she’s been through,” Laurence informed me when I spoke of my admiration for the late Margaret Penner Toews’s writings. While I didn’t say it aloud, I determined in my mind – those many years ago when I first began to write for publication – that would not be my lot.

I smile now at my younger self that wanted the quiet Miss Read life. 9/11 came unbidden. Relationship difficulties affected my mental health. We did not want to be the Pandemic Epicenter or have to deal with long COVID. Today, I walk with a rod in my leg. We’ve spent more hours than I want to count in the Elmhurst Hospital emergency room, and then last Sunday found Laurence and myself alone with two super nice surgeons at the Eye Infirmary in Manhattan. (Laurence continues to recover from surgery for retinal detachment and a large tear.)

In these difficulties, we have been brought into the presence of God. Over and over He has made “the storm a calm” (Psalm 107:29). Yesterday, we stood under a blue, blue sky beside the blue, blue waters of Oyster Bay on Long Island. All seemed right with our world. “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”  Berniece

P.s. Happy birthday to Abbygirl!