I am happy to be with you today for a special Weekly encouragement! episode! Thank you for this opportunity and I hope this has been a good week. This story has special meaning to me. It’s a story deep in the Old Testament, but alive and meaningful for today. It’s about a young man named, listen carefully, his name is Mephibosheth. Try saying that three times fast! How truly special this Old Testament figure is. He was the grandson of King Saul, a failed king (well, maybe he had a huge purpose even through his grandson). But he experienced a fall, a fall that wasn't his fault. Just like you and me. We live in a fallen world that fell before we ever took a breath. Just like the world Mephibosheth was born into. I think I’m learning that even Saul was important in ways I never imagined. Maybe people around me are important in ways I never imagined. But Mephibosheth was part of a covenant between his father, Jonathan, and David who became king after Saul’s failure. The covenant was in existence before Mephibosheth was born, before he ever took a breath. Just as you and I are part of a covenant that existed long before we were ever on this earth. The covenant God made with this fallen world to give us hope and assurance. The story goes much deeper for this grandson of King Saul. Because of his grandfather, Mephibosheth would experience great pain and an accident left him with broken feet when he was a young boy, 5 years old. The covenant David had made with Saul’s son, Jonathan, was that David would show kindness to Jonathan's family. When Kkng David learned of this grandson of Saul, he sought him out to give him a place at his table forever. And this is what God has done for us. I learn that I don’t have to fit a perfect mold to be accepted at the King’s table. You see, Mephibosheth would be considered someone with a disability in today’s world, and the Bible says he was lame in both feet. I don’t know what language this speaks to you, but it tells me I don’t have to have a perfect body to be accepted into God’s family. Even I struggle with this concept, that because I’m not perfect in my body, can I be accepted into God’s family? I needed to be reminded of this story. God has built the covenant before us so that we can be accepted with Him, and, I would venture to say, with each other. By a common thread, we are not perfect. But, by a stronger thread that cannot be broken, we are accepted into God’s family through grace. Please remember I’m praying for you because I love you.