Our granddaughter started kindergarten this fall. There were tears on the first day, but not from the 5 year old. It was her dad who had the sniffles. Understandable, since he has spent all day every day with his little girl for five years. The realization that children grow up can be jolting.

Watching our sweet girl go off to school makes me appreciate the biblical account of Hannah and her sweet boy, Samuel.

According to my Bible Reading Plan for 2023, I’ll be spending the next several weeks in the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Samuel. It’s a manageable five chapters per week through November. Join me?

Hannah promised God that if she was blessed with a son, she would give the child back to the Lord. The long awaited baby she had fervently prayed for finally arrived. And she kept her end of the deal.

Waiting until Samuel was weaned (and probably potty trained), Hannah had a few years with her baby boy. Then one day she dropped him off at the tabernacle with an elderly priest who had a terrible track record as a parent of two wicked sons.

What did Hannah do next?
She sang.

How I rejoice in the Lord!
How he has blessed me!
Now I have an answer for my enemies,
For the Lord has solved my problem.
How I rejoice!
No one is as holy as the Lord!
There is no other God,
Nor any Rock like our God.
1 Samuel 2:1-2

Surely there were a few sniffles on the 15 mile walk back home.

Hannah would go on to have five more children,
but she didn’t know it that day.
Samuel would become a great prophet of the Lord,
but she didn’t know it that day.
Samuel would later return to his hometown,
but she didn’t know it that day.
Hannah’s story would be recorded in holy scripture,
but she didn’t know it that day.

All Hannah did was
fervently pray,
humbly surrender,
and joyfully sing.

May we be like Hannah,
because there are things we don’t know today.