For such a time as this (Mordecai to Esther (Esther 4:14)”

– preparing our hearts for the 4th of July: John Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. He wrote his name in very large letters so that King George could read it without his spectacles! When things were not going well during the Revolutionary War he said, “In circumstances dark as these, it becomes us, as men and Christians, to reflect that, while every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God who rules in the Armies of Heaven and without whose blessing the best human counsels are but foolishness, and all created power.”