In the Beginning

Wednesday, May 14, Hartwell, GA
First service.
It's started already.
Lasagna.
In those lovely foil pans.
We laugh,
knowing that our God's provision
often includes a healthy dose of the humorous.

Brad wouldn't believe us that
we ate lasagna all the time.
And there he stands,
a monument of irony.

Thursday, May 15, Pass Christian, MS
(A long day full of traffic jams)
A quick stop at the beach
Brings memories of a childhood spent by the shore:
Toes squishing in the sand,
waves lapping at my ankles.
Who cares if I'm wearing a skirt!
I'm going wading.

Tonight's service is one of the most
spiritually refreshing I have seen on the road.
This tiny church is occupied by 4 complete generations of the Ball family,
each growing more comfortable,
more attached to its idyllic Southern community.
Until one of the youngest couples
decides to shatter the comfortable reality they've built around them.
Amanda & Michael Ball
have just told the clan
that they are going to the mission field.
Emotional chaos, to be sure.
"No one's ever left!" They cry.
"What about my great-grandbabies?
You can't do that to them!"

Enter the unsuspecting BJU Drama team.
And a drama about leaving our comfort zones,
our plush lifestyles to minister to those around us.
A family shaken,
But a spark ignited.
Anticipation of a happy send-off
for the young couple.

Friday, May 16
Before we leave the now rejoicing Ball family,
We go to a nursing home.
How I miss these people,
these precious people.
Elijah.
He's in his fifties.
Deaf.
Cannot read.
Cannot sign.
My heart breaks.
Oh, but for a year to work with him.
To open the eyes of his understanding
that he might behold the beauty of our God.
Whitey is here, though.
Amanda's sister.
She's discouraged from long hours of fruitless labor.
We talk.
She leaves inspired to continue working with Elijah
and others.

And the others.
Daphne.
She's 25.
Cannot communicate but by typing.
The product of heroine.
Her husband, Turtle, fled.
Her child rarely visits.
But she radiates
with a joy that only comes from
contact with the Almighty.

I leave Pass Christian refreshed,
burdened, inspired.
This is the Lord's working, and it is woderful in my eyes.