Bill Harvison

The last time I wrote for the paper I had, like many of you, high hopes that COVID-19 would be a distant memory. However, here we are in late August and it is still with us, kinda like that cousin who never wants to go home. Being the last week of August, instead of writing an encouraging word, I want to ask you to do something ... pray.

Pray for our nation. I don’t care if you support elephants or donkeys, our nation is in desperate need of prayer. Twenty-twenty seems to be a year of just continuous turmoil and devastation. Pray and vote your faith that the man God wants for this nation will be the president.

Pray that people will stop seeing the color of our brothers and sisters and start seeing God’s most beautiful creation — people. We are all created in the image of God and we are all the same, regardless of our skin tone.

Pray for those people who have lost family and friends to COVID-19. Pray for our medical staff, those on the front lines of this fight, from the custodian who is working hard to clean to the doctor who is struggling to fight this virus. Pray for those who are in nursing homes who have not felt the warmth of their family member’s embrace since March.

Pray for our students and school staff members as they enter a classroom like never before. Our children need to be able to socialize with their friends and receive the education they deserve. Pray for that teacher who already had a full plate to deal with and now has even more. Pray for our school superintendent and board members who will be making decisions each day.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a very familiar scripture that we see printed on different home and desk decorations. Let me encourage you to read further. Jeremiah 29:12-13 says, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Let’s seek God like never before and turn back to him.

(Bill Harvison is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church.)