A Steadfast Love, Cascading

Niagara Falls in the fading daylight, March 1989

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Lamentations 3:22

This morning the  preacher talked of this steadfast love as we worshiped with our son and his family at their church. We do this occasionally, finding it to be a sweet time.

“Steadfast” love speaks of a
loyal love
full-of-resolve love
steadily-directed love

A recent photo of Niagara Falls appeared on the screen as he declared “This is the love that cascades over us – unceasing, loyal, resolute, steadily-directed.”

I remember:

– my parents telling of their honeymoon visit to Niagara Falls in 1947 and the story of the the “Maid-of-the-Mist” boat ride under the cascading water.

Harold and Esther Longenecker 1947
(Harold and Esther Longenecker 1947)

– our family visiting Niagara Falls 42 years later in 1989 watching water cascade over the falls

(Niagara Falls at night with our family in March 1989)

– one of our grown-up sons taking his family 22 years later, the water still cascading over the falls, as his family too, rode on the still-running “Maid-of-the-Mist,” just like his grandparents.

 

(Maid-of-the-Mist boat ride for our son and his family in 2011)

And as far as I have heard, the water has not stopped – day and night it cascades over the falls to the rocks below. Tonight, the thought of this kind of love is like the comfort of a puffy down coat on a bone-chilling Chicago day in January.

Tonight I pull the album of our trip off the shelf and i add this story of the steadfast love cascading over us.

Sometimes I lose the sense of his presence; these  kinds of things help me remember.  I want to remember.  I  want my sons to remember.

I can’t get away from the idea today.

Perhaps this will help me remember.

I always do better with a picture.

Perhaps you can find a photo of Niagara Falls.  If you need one, leave your email in the comments below and I’ll send you the one above.  Or if you are reading this in your email notification, you can hit reply there.

And if you haven’t subscribed yet, and would like email reminders when I get inspired to write, I’d love to be connected in this way.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *