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May ’85
3. This morning our Joanna is to be inoculated. Thanks be to God for His mercy
to our grandchild at the Mills. Oh, may my own also be pitied, and we obtain
mercy and help in a time of need. Our waiting eye be upon the Lord, with whom
is compassion and deliverance. Father of mercies, strengthen us in our faith,
hope, and trust in Thee through Jesus Christ. May my children be filled with Thy
grace and Spirit, and we live to see them growing up in Thy fear and for Thy
glory. Hear the prayers of Thy people for us, and oh, increase and restore our
health and comforts. Blessed be the Lord for the fine weather, and for that letter
of P. Hollebeek. 194 May his prayers and good wishes be heard, and also the Synod
be blessed for the establishing of mutual peace and union of the Protestant
Churches throughout this state and others. I desire to be found in the way of duty,
and to hope in Thy goodness. Pity and pardon and spare us for J. C. O. L.’s sake.
Amen.
6. Blessed be the Lord, who has brought and helped us hitherto; my son, today
nine years old, is through mercy increasing in stature, and learns to write pretty
well. May the Father of lights quicken his precious soul in Jesus Christ, and call
him to His blessed Communion and the ministry of the glorious gospel. I desire to
devote him to His service. Oh, spare our lives together, and may we enjoy Thy
peculiar covenant mercy, Father, for ourselves and all our children. Pity the
youngest one, and spare it graciously from danger and death. Mitigate the pains
of the disorder, now prevailing, and strengthen all our children with Thy grace and
spirit. I desire to wait and to hope on Thy former goodness, and leave all our
concerns into Thy hands. O, merciful God and Father of O. L. J. C., hear our
prayers. Defend and support us and ours, and bless Thy Church and people, our
land and this city, with peace, plenty and piety, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
14. Thanks to the Lord for this peculiar mercy toward my child that is inoculated.
Though she has been sick of fevers for several days, and particularly one night,
there is yet none visible but at the place where it has taken. Oh, may the Father of
mercies continue His blessings upon us, and we be enabled to glorify His sparing
goodness. I desire to be found in a humble waiting frame, and to implore the God
of all grace for necessary strength in the following days of Pentecost, to perform
the duties thereof, both private and public. May I also meet with an opportunity
for New York, and my journey be prosperous to join my brethren in their Synod,
and to recover health for the work of my God in Christ. Amen.
18. This morning Philip has gone to New York; may the Father of mercies be his
guide and guardian, and direct his steps into useful measures, and we live to see
him established in faith and business both. Amen.
194
Dominee P. Hollebeek was a member of the Committee Ad Res Exteras of the Classis of
Amsterdam [last mentioned ER 2900 (1746)]. On May 17-20, 1785, the Synod of Reformed Dutch
Churches in New York and New Jersey uses the same expression, “Protestant Churches,” in its
“fraternal correspondence,” and it adds Eilardus Westerlo and Johannes Schuurman, an elder from
Brunswick, to the committee [ER 4328]. The “fraternal correspondence: relates to the “more intimate
fraternal intercourse” sought among the Presbyterian Synods of New York and Philadelphia, the Dutch
Reformed Church, and the United Reformed Scotch Church [ER 4321].
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