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Pastor Frank lived a long good life doing God’s work around the world. Literally. God sent him to New Guinea where, through many trials and threats, he built a church and led the people to God. I could sit for hours and listen to his stories that included quite a few antics. (I’m sure God forgave him for the frog incident during the long running sermon).

Psalm 91 was Pastor Frank’s favorite Psalm and remembering that fun fact was hard for me. The last time I had to ask his son, Pastor Dave, what it was, I wrote it on my desk pad and drew a heart around it. This morning I wrote it on the edge of my iPad case to remind me to visit it often. As the year ends, I chose this Psalm to warm my heart as another year begins.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways,

they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

As I sit her in the comfort of my home, and as I typed the words in the Psalm, I thought about the pastor and where he now calls home. I can picture him laughing as he shares his earthly life with all the saved in heaven. I know his vision is now crystal clear and he has a bounce in his steps. And I can’t wait to kiss the top of his head again.