*Sigh*

Dear Friends,
Life has been exceedingly challenging for me these past few weeks, and thus my absence. I am in the crucible, so to speak. And it's not a bad place to be, this place of refining, but it is hard.

And since too much has been going on, it has simply been too much to write about. I can barely live it! *laugh* But today, even as the fire grows ever hotter, the Lord brought this sweet old hymn to memory. I hope you know it, and I hope it blesses you even as it did me.

Day By Day**
Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Give unto each day what He deems best;
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure,
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As your days, your strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in ev'ry tribulation,
So to trust Your promises, O Lord;
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,
Offered me within Your holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a Father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Standing in His mercy; awaiting His grace,
-J

But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have kept to his way without turning aside.
I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
-Job 23:8-10

** Words by Lina Sandell Berg, 1832-1903; Music by Oscar Ahnfelt, 1813-1882