Sunday, July 3, 2011
I took a shower in the awkward little shower stall this morning, and let me tell you, it’s tough to shave your legs in a three-by-three space. Just thought I’d share. I’d awakened early thanks to the other lovely teenaged girls in our hall-style dorm, so I had some extra time to get ready. Not that I did anything extra. I looked normal.
Breakfast at 8:30, loaded up on grits, soft greasy bacon, and powdered eggs. I’m actually a fan except for the greasiness of the bacon. Having downed my cup of coffee, I gathered my things and we all got in the vans for the half-hour ride to the church. No one was there when we arrived, so we sat outside, talking and singing songs. It’s a tradition for us to sing a song for the congregation when we visit, so we also took the time to choose that song and practice it. It’s the same one we’ve done for at least the past four or so years, though, so most of us had it pretty much down. It was based on Isaiah 43, a passage in which God is speaking to His people with words of comfort and guarantees of protection.
My dear, dear friend Johnny pulled up right about eleven and unlocked the church for us. Johnny is about fifty or sixty and has been around for years. We’ve been buddies ever since I saw my own huge smile mirrored just as large on his face eleven years ago. He calls me Smiley, and he’s given me a shout-out in the middle of the church’s testimony time for the past two years. It’s a little strange to be singled out like that, but I love him to death, and I understand. I’d probably do the same thing if he were the one in the pew and I were up front.
The service started around 11:30 or so and lasted until a little after 2, I think. We sang songs that aren’t in the hymnal but have become familiar to me over the course of my tenure here. There were many prayers said and testimonies given, thanks for being granted another year, another day, another moment with family and friends, and wishes to see the Savior when it’s time to be called to “the other side of Jerdan.” :) It took me a minute to figure out what Jerdan was. I love Tennessee.
Bo, the pastor and also another dear friend of mine (we text regularly and I stayed with his sister – another dear friend, now – when I interviewed for a job in their school system after graduating college), touched on a few points during his fiery sermon. The key phrase was, “You can’t keep a good man down.” That was referring both to how God blesses those who trust in Him despite what others say and do to them, and also how we give our best and trust in God even when our circumstances are grim. I was thoroughly blessed by the sermon, the songs, the prayers, the fellowship, and the love I’ve come to so dearly appreciate. I can’t even describe what a blessing it is to be completely accepted by people whom I’ve been around for one week a year, eleven years going. That really isn’t much time in the grand scheme of things. Yet they know how to make me feel like I’m the most important person in the world to them, like I’m some kind of gift from God Himself. What they probably don’t realize is that every single one of them is a gift to me, and I can’t wait until July rolls around just so I can see them again.
The afternoon was taken up with lunch and getting ready for the week. We worked on the skit (right now the plan is to do a Steve Erwin-esque treatment of the diversity of God’s creation), the lesson (Abraham being told to leave his home for a strange country in Genesis 12), and the music (Year six or seven of leading? Maybe? It’s about time to pass the torch, though I really will miss it.). Stopped at McDonald’s for dinner, came back to finish working on music and the lesson, and here I am in bed, typing up my recaps.
I can’t wait to see what this week will hold. :) My heart is already close to overflowing….
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