Inspired Blessing through Patriarch Vernon Darling
Last Service Seventy Reunion July 3, 2010 -- Lamoni, IA

Father, help us this morning that we might understand the callings that you have given us; and that I might be able to speak today the words that you might give to them. 

The Lord of heaven looks down upon you and smiles. He sees the anticipation which you have as you go into the world from this place.  And this is not an end, but it is a beginning, a beginning of a life which you want to live for Him.

You should take that challenge seriously, and do not let it waste away in the everyday living of your lives.  But renew it day by day that it might guide you in your actions with others, especially in your conduct with your children, that they can see in you the steadiness that is needed; and the strength and perseverance that comes from knowing and practicing those things in your homes, which will bring you close to them.

So what your primary responsibility is, is to give these little ones a sense of self-worth, and not take it away from them.  But that the children will know just how much they mean to me, by the ways in which you love them.  So do not hesitate to show them every day that you love them. And even in the days when they are taller than you make sure that they know before they leave their home that your love is going with them.

Many are anxious about the relationship of your group with the others in the Restoration movement; if you make this a center of your concern, then the life of your own group will grow and give you a vision, a vision of what is in my heart.

I have spoken to you about harmony and unity, but you have not learned to use this, and to be unified. Let the others know that you love them. And it is on my heart that your worship and your fellowship is diminished because we are not together and we are not one.

So I invite you to let the Lord be such a great part of your home and life; let the arguments cease, the dissention; and your companions—your wives and your husbands—renew that relationship often.

And to those who have lost their companions, they are in my care and so are you.  I see your pain, I feel the urge that you feel that you would find your rest and peace and love in me.

May God add His blessings to your life as you seek to be His servants and His people.  Amen.