I guess I failed to mention yesterday that we are home. Made it back in the early afternoon to a houseful of LaMarque Vaughan’s and a few Geran’s as well. The Vaughan’s were hanging out in town waiting for the afternoon class that Kel teaches at church. Brennan and his cousin were over getting in on the back yard kids’ fun time.
Yesterday we started out in different directions, but ended up together. Chris went for her walk. I went to the back yard to mow. Our G.N.A.T.S.(Great Neighbors Across The Street) mowed the front for us. Thanks so much, Corey. That was really a great gift.
After mowing and weedeating, I grabbed the clippers and attacked the evil gorganzola bush (ok. That’s probably not right. It’s the one with all those wicked thorns and leaves that turn purple and Chris won’t let me chop on it if there is a purple leaf so I have to take whatever opportunity I can get). Meanwhile, Chris got back. She finished up her workout routine and immediately jumped into flower beds and started weeding. Then she did the sweeping up of grass clippings. Have I mentioned lately that that woman is amazing?
I had one of those God kind of afternoons yesterday. I had three things on my list to do. First was to make a hospital visit. Then I planned to stop at the glasses place to get a minor repair taken care of. And finally, a stop at Walmart for some milk and fruit.
All set, right? Well …
For some reason I really felt like I was supposed to switch my order and get the glasses fixed first. No idea why. Things went smoothly there. Fixed em up and didn’t charge me anything.
From there I headed on to the hospital. And just outside the door I ran into the mother-in-law of one of the kids that grew up at Seaside. Seems her son had been admitted. I assured her I would stop in on him. Never would have seen her if I hadn’t stopped for the glasses fix.
I went on in and stopped at the office of the parking validators. They were out to lunch. That becomes significant later.
So I headed on up to Daniel’s floor. But on the way I felt like I should go by Dale’s room first. He’s a Seaside guy. Dale was awake and alert. I prayed with him first. Then, as he dozed back off, I chatted with his family. They had been following our vacation on Facebook and wanted to hear all about our trip (thanks, Facebook). It was a great visit. Before I left, I prayed with them as well.
Next I headed back to see Daniel. In the hall I ran into a lady I know from Jamaica Beach who is volunteer chaplain. Talked to her for a while.
Then in Daniel’s room, I was pleasantly surprised to see that his wife Jennifer (the one who grew up at Seaside) and father-in-law Jim were there. Great to see them. We talked for a while and prayed.
Then it was back down to the office of the parking validator. And on the way there, I ran into another old Seasider, Melissa. Would have missed her if the office hadn’t been closed when I came by earlier. We shared a big hug and spent a few minutes catching up. Oh, and I did get to see the validator finally.
My final “accidental meeting“ came at Walmart. As I wheeled my fruit and milk to the checkout, I saw an old neighborhood / baseball friend. We chatted a bit about Halloween in the old neighborhood, and he said he was going to try to come by this year.
“Accidental encounters.” What I anticipated as a quick three-pronged trip turned into a whole afternoon of ministry encounters. Way to go, God.
Psalms 9:1 says, I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Father, thanks for giving me the chance to accidentally encounter some folks that I hope I helped in some small way. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment