I Never Would Have Guessed

Becky, Yuki, and I had a nice mutual birthday party last Thursday. Yuki seemed more open spiritually. Praise the Lord! Sunday Rev. Nguu taught our adult Sunday School class. We had been studying Acts, so he took us through an overview of Acts, using the acrostic SPECK (Sin to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow or avoid, Commands to obey, Knowledge of God). It was very good. Did you know that 85% of a dog's DNA is the same as people's? I didn't know that until our preacher on Sunday morning used his dog as an illustration (bad example). The evening service included, among other things, a report from missionaries to Angola. I still have a soft place in my heart for Africa. Also, that evening Susie had an inviting smile, so I sat next to her and fed her some trail mix. She's disabled. Our elders have decided that every three months, their meeting will be open to the congregation for prayer requests, questions, or just observation. One such meeting was last night. I indicated a desire for them to pray for me. There were several others. I had a prayer request for a physical need, Vocational Rehab, my neighborhood, and several ministry-related requests. Three elders named Jim were designated to pray for me. When I got home, three children were playing outside. This is not unusual, of course. However, normally the children only greet me, then go about their play. This time, they came up to me, and the two boys (about three years old) started jabbering. "Watch me." "It's not a real one " (in response to my comment about a plastic sword). "Your bushes have stickers." "Ooh! Now I have an owy!" "Do you have any candy for us?" (No). "Are you going to get some?" "Are you going to stay outside?" I was cold and told them maybe I'd stay outside when it got warmer. I knew better than to ask where this came from. It came from the Lord. It was a direct answer to elders' prayers regarding my neighborhood and ministry. So I started thinking in terms of ministry. What about 5-Day clubs (Child Evangelism Fellowship), VBS, and later, maybe just reading stories to them? I'm sure their parents don't read stories to them. I never would have guessed a ministry opportunity would come in this form. I should also mention that Voc Rehab sent me another letter of denial, citing timeliness, despite the fact that I had made a point of keeping in touch with them about the issue of timeliness. I again said I'd appeal, and they again reopened my case. We'll see how this goes. In response to the shooting at Georgia Tech, the Indianapolis Star had a front page article featuring one of the students who had been killed. He had a 4.0 grade average. Two men at Wal Mart were lamenting this tragic death. Yes, it was tragic. However, it still would have been a tragedy if he had the lowest grade-point average in the class. But then, of course, he wouldn't have been featured in the article. Such is our society, valuing people with obvious intelligence over those who are not so endowed. Sadly, many Christians also share these skewed values. I also believe the Lord wants me to initiate reconciliation between family members. So, I have drafted a letter to a couple. We w ill see what the Lord want s to do.