A Small Gift

If you have read the last entry in this blog then you might have come to some conclusion about the black cloud that seemed to have been hovering over me. Well, I am here to give you a further weather report. The first ray of sunshine came on Wednesday night. It seemed to me that there was an exceptionally good spirit at the mid-week Bible study. This is really surprising given that I had labored all day under the impression that it was business meeting night. I had decided to work ahead of myself and study the passage that I had planned to preach from Sunday night in our Life Group. About ten minutes before the service I realized it was not the date for the Quarterly Business Meeting! I walked in with the notes for the Sunday night message and it went over much better than I would have expected.

One of the things that has always confirmed my call to preach is when I preach well. Now, you might be thinking, how do you know if you are doing it all that well? It is partly how it feels to me, it is partly the response of the audience, but mostly it is the subjective sense that I have "delivered my soul." That is the way that I felt when I walked out of the church on Wednesday night. It certainly didn't hurt any to see Joy smiling at me while I was preaching or to hear her words of affirmation afterwards.

This was followed up by all the tasks of Thursday and the realization that the church softball team would be playing at 8 p.m. It was at the game that I got a small gift that really broke up what black clouds remained. While watching the game Joy and I had also been noticing and talking some with the Johnson girls. At the end of the evening Kayla, the oldest, came over and sat close by me and offered me some of whatever it was that she was eating. I didn't take any, but the offer really touched me.

The kindness of a child is a wonderful thing. I am glad that I get to say I am Kayla's pastor. My prayer is that I will be able to say that for a long time.