THURSDAY, July 30 (William Wilberforce)

Our churchwomen's group had a quiet day in which a very creative local Christian artist presented the program. This woman comes from a more fundamentalist church, so her testimony, intertwined with her art, was a fresh look at God in our lives.

During a break for lunch, I was fortunate to sit with her. She has a calm and confident presence, and there is no doubt that she is filled with the joy of the Lord. But she asked a question of us at the table that brought me to this psalm. She asked when we had become Christians.

Some of the women at the table noted different dates and eras of their lives. That too amazed me, for I am sure that I have never not known and been known by God. And since he has known me since my mother's womb, God also knew I was a Christian in my mother's womb.

This I told her and she marveled over my remark as much as I had over her question. This psalm assures me that God's life-sustaining love will be with me through old age as well.

PRAY for the Diocese of Lake Malawi (Central Africa)

Ps 70 * 74; 2 Samuel 4:1-12;  Acts 16:25-40; Mark 7:1-23

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