November 7 – “Pink houses and prayer answers”

 

 

I presided over a wedding Saturday night at one of the old historic homes just off of 23^rd street.  It even had one of those plaques indicating it was a 1900 Storm survivor.  They had done quite a bit of work on it.  They ripped out a few layers of floor coverings – nasty shag carpeting and tiles – to reveal some gorgeous wood floors.  They also pulled down a false dropped ceiling that was at about eight feet to reveal a beautiful ceiling at least twelve feet high.  They replaced a lot of rotted wood and even restored an old back porch that used to be there.  Installing central air and heat was the biggest difficulty, but they finally got that done as well.  They did an amazing job except for one thing.  It's pink.  The color didn't turn out like they wanted it, so now the house is pink.  It did make it easier for me to find, though.

 

I prayed my usual Sunday morning prayer yesterday on my way to church.  It usually goes something like, "Lord, get me out of the way so the folks can hear from you.  Draw somebody toward yourself and let him show up so we can be a part of helping him find the next step on his journey, whatever that may look like."  As we were preparing everything for the service – making coffee and setting up the communion station and entering scriptures and a Visual Verse into the computer – a guy walked into the door with an interesting request.  He wanted to know if we knew of a place that had "one of those outdoor showers where people rinse off after they go to the beach."  We asked if it was for him, and he continued one to tell us that he had a job interview later on that day and he wanted to get cleaned up before he went.  He had driven in from Colorado and had spent the night in his car.  Dave took him upstairs, got him a towel, and set him up in one of the showers there.  He joined us for worship when he finished.  We prayed for Jacob to be successful in his job search and his God search.  Well, that was a pretty direct answer to prayer.  Keep them coming.

 

Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 says, "Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

 

Father, be with Jacob in his search for work and for you.  Amen.