Update June 17, 2021 11am:

Thoughts from the Van Essen Family 

The Van Essen family wanted to share with you some verses from the Bible they have been meditating on and finding comfort in.

Lily Van Essen has been meditating on these verses:

My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.” 
-- Lamentations 3:20-24 ESV

These are verses on Matt Van Essen’s mind right now: 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
According to his great mercy,
he has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary,
you have been grieved by various trials,
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold
that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise
and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen him, you love him.
Though you do not now see him,
you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

—1 Peter 1:3-9 ESV