The holidays are winding down, and I’m desperate for a devotion topic. I discovered that on this day in 1836, Queen Emma of Hawaii was born. Right, I didn’t know there was a Queen Emma either. She was the wife of King Kamehameha IV. Seems she ran for the throne in her own right in the Royal Election of 1874. I also didn’t know they had elections for monarch in Hawaii. In 1860, Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV asked the Church of England to help establish the Church of Hawaii. Anglican bishop Thomas Nettleship Staley was sent, and Queen Emma and her husband were subsequently baptized.

The Episcopal Church has a commemoration for the Queen and her husband. You can look up the prayer for them here: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/kamehameha-and-emma-king-and-queen-hawaii-1864-1885

All right, this whole devotion is sort of weird, but it reminds me of the millions of Christians who are largely forgotten about and yet made a difference in the lives of others. My first Sunday School teacher was Miss Mildred Olson who seemed to be ancient when she taught me. She was, in fact, around 60. As a teenager she helped start the church I attended. In her golden years she ran the senior citizens group. At her death she left a substantial sum to the church. In a couple of decades, their will be no one alive who remembers her, yet she had an impact on so many people.

It might be nice as we begin this new year to recall those believers who touched our lives.

Read Ephesians 6:18 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne