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ORIGINAL: rayofson

So I never got to check my email yesterday. But I did get to meet Richard. We make plans…God laughs.

Band practice was scheduled last night as usual for a Thursday. I knew that if I showed up early and setup our equipment that I should have time to check my email before the band members started showing up.
As I was setting up, the ring-tone on the cell phone indicated that band practice was probably a bust.

The equipment still needed to be in place for the service on Sunday and I continued the task at hand. The work was about halfway complete when a visitor showed up at our door. There stood an elderly gentleman, visually shaken and disturbed.

“I’d like to pray in your sanctuary if that’s alright. Is your pastor around?” He said, fighting back the tears.
“Our pastor is out of town this week but will be back on Sunday. Sure, you can come in and use our sanctuary if you’d like. I’m just setting up sound equipment for the band. Don’t mind me.” I replied with a reassuring smile.

He explained that his best friend had died, and had lost two brothers recently. Having been through that, there was much empathy to share with him.

We walked into the sanctuary and he settled into a front-row pew. The lights were subdued with only the spotlight on the cross…barely enough for me to do the work. It was perfect now for this new circumstance, giving an aura of peace and serenity that he needed at the moment.

Wanting to give him some quiet time for the prayer time that he sought, I continued quietly about my business. It wasn’t long before he began to banter small talk about the band. I invited him to our upcoming contemporary service and he seemed quite pleased. I handed him a box of tissues and the job of setting up equipment took a back burner to a conversation with my new friend.

We shared our life stories. He was 58, much younger than the wrinkles on his face. Most of his life was spent in the industrial roofing business working with hot tar under the searing sun. That explained a lot. His wife is in a nursing home. She had cancer on her kidney and they removed her kidney. Then her other kidney stopped working. Now she’s on dialysis.

He’s out of work and has lost everything. His life possessions were in a football sized satchel by his side. He had to hitchhike to the funeral. We shared medical records and compared scars. His doctor bills are mounting and he can’t work except perhaps a desk job anymore. I could tell this was very depressing for him. Going through the government agencies had proved difficult without a copy of his birth certificate.

He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere. Hours passed by as we talked and prayed. I didn’t mind at all. It seemed he needed someone to talk to as much as somewhere to pray and was quite pleased with my company. We laughed. We cried.

Eventually he was ready to go on his way and I offered him a ride to his temporary abode where he was staying with some friends. I gave him a small prayer book to take with him and a copy of our newsletter. As he perused the newsletter, he asked “Is this you?” I looked up and he was looking at the list of church staff. There was my name under ‘Social Concerns’. I looked over his shoulder and said that it was. “Oh, you’re the Council President too?” He seemed impressed. “Only until July 1st when my term is up” I giggled.

I gave him a copy of the soup kitchen schedule and explained that I’d be there on Tuesday. On our way out the door I asked if he could use some food, because we have an emergency supply. We grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with what he picked out. On the way home, we stopped at a local drug store and purchased some new batteries for his hearing aid.

So I never got to check my email yesterday. But I did get to meet Richard.

Please pray for him.

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(((Richard)))

(((Ray))) - for being exactly where God intended you to be.

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ORIGINAL: rayofson

Lost three more pounds for a total of 42.