A Step at a Time--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

A Step at a Time

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

Years ago, a single mother faced what seemed like an overwhelming future. Her children were young, their challenges great. Though our personal trials may be different from hers, we can sympathize with her distress. Who among us has not faced a challenge or difficulty with some uncertainty and misgiving? Are we strong enough, wise enough, brave enough to carry on? It’s been said that “old age is not for the weak,” but neither is young or middle age. Whatever you face right now, remember, you’ve faced other problems, and you made it past them; you’ve gone through trials before, and you came out stronger on the other side; you’ve learned and grown, and now you have the wisdom that comes of experience. And you’re not the only one. Most everyone you see has had to face trouble and adversity. What you’ve witnessed your whole life, whether you know it or not, is courage and strength and faith. And none of it was acquired in a day or month or year. It comes little by little, over time. Eleanor Roosevelt, one who was resilient in the face of heartache, said: “Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”1 Usually, what seems difficult just takes some time. What seems impossible takes a little more time. Courage is often demonstrated by those who are stronger than they think, more resilient than they once imagined. With faith, hope, courage, and some help from kind people, the young single mother made it. Her children are now grown, those difficult days now past. Like so many others all around us who face challenges and problems, she became a hero one step at a time. 1. You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life (1960), 41. Program #4204

Light of Life--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

Light of Life

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

Something within us loves light. We need light for life. Both physically and spiritually, we thrive when we see and feel the light. Who doesn’t feel drawn to a window, not just for the view it affords, but especially for the light it invites? The natural world shows how essential light is to life. Delicate flowers push their way through the darkness of the cold, hard soil just to drink from the sun’s warm light. Spring’s bold display of blossoms is a direct response to longer days of more direct light. In ancient times, people were more dependent on natural light than we are today. And when the sun went down, they could not simply flip a switch or press a button to illuminate their dwellings. Long ago, early on that first Easter morning, “it was yet dark” when Mary went to the garden tomb (see John 20:1). The darkness in the world around her was likely easier to bear than the darkness and emptiness she felt in her heart. Soon the sun would rise, however, and soon the Light of Life would illuminate her soul. In a sense, each of us walks a part of life’s journey in the dark. But each step of faith leads to more light, more reason to believe, greater cause to hope, until we finally find the Light of Life. As the Psalmist said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). The more we yearn for the Light of Life, the more our spirits, like the flowers of spring, blossom with the fruits of faith: peace, joy, love, and hope. Without the light that shines in darkness, we could not gather “fruit unto life eternal” (John 4:36). We could not feel the light of everlasting life. Program #4203 Musical Selection: 1. Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise 2. God So Loved the World 3. The Lord My Pasture Will Prepare 4. Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee 5. Spoken Word 6. O Light of Life! 7. Hallelujah Chorus

The Right Person at the Right Time--Spoken Word Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell

The Right Person at the Right Time

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

Think for a moment of someone who made a difference in your life. Maybe it was a family member, a friend, a coach, a teacher, a neighbor. It may even have happened a long time ago, but you still remember and cherish that person’s influence upon you. A young teenage girl thinks of a basketball coach who saw her potential, cared about her, and told her not to quit. A boy thinks of a teacher who helped him believe he was smart and could succeed in school. A new father thinks of a brother who encouraged him though the challenges of parenthood. A middle-aged woman thinks of a neighbor who reached out to her during a heartbreaking time of loss. A thousand other examples could be given of simple moments when the right person at the right time made a big difference in someone else’s life. A song from the Lerner and Loewe musical Brigadoon pays tribute to the influence one person can have on the life of another: I saw a man with his head bowed low. His heart had no place to go. I looked and I thought to myself with a sigh: There but for you go I. . . . Lonely men around me, trying not to cry, Till the day you found me, there among them was I.1 It’s humbling to think what our lives might be like without those earthly angels who spread goodness and kindness along life’s pathway. They come into our lives at crucial times to set an example, to give us counsel or encouragement, or simply to be a loyal friend when we need one the most. Without them, we know we would not be quite the same. All around us are people who need that kind of friend—people “with [their heads] bowed low,” whose hearts have “no place to go.” Now could be someone’s crucial moment, when just the right words or even just the right warmth of friendship might make a difference. To them, you can be the right person at the right time. 1. “There but for You Go I” (1947). Program #4202 Musical Selections: 1. Praise Ye the Lord 2. Lord, Make Me to Know, from A German Requiem 3. How Bright Is the Day 4. Morning Has Broken (Organ solo) 5. Spoken Word 6. There But for You Go I, from Brigadoon 7. When the Saints Go Marching In 8. A Gaelic Blessing