A WEE MIRACLE

 

A WEE MIRACLE

The parking lot was a roll call of STATES west of the Mississippi PLUS Minnesota and Michigan = Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, ID, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska.  It was the Friday of the week when the RV Show and the Rock and Gem Show dissend on the sleepy town of Quartzsite just down Highway 95 from Parker AZ.  The self checkout line was back to the freezer section so I headed for a regular check stand, they seemed to be moving faster.

The elderly lady in front of me combed her short hair and spoke to the person in front of her.  “I know that voice,”  I thought, then she turned back to me.  “I know you,” I said and she introduced herself, so I did the same.  WE LAUGHED!!  We had visited her home while in Oregon, knowing that we would be neighbors this winter in AZ, but she had not arrived at the campground yet, but would later in the day!! 

Now what would the ODDS be that I would bump into someone I knew in an over packed WalMart here in the middle of the COLORADO River Reservation, miles from our campground and states away from her home?

I looked heavenward and said, “OK GOD,  I guess I am on YOUR radar, even in this ZOO!”

Noticed in Passing...

The smaller churches are the most remiss in keeping NON members aware of their current status - whether they are worshiping in person AT WHAT TIME? Or if only on-line how to access worship on the internet.

What this tells the seeker, the visitor, or even the curious neighbor is "Only the members need to know our status, our open for worship hours.

We have experienced it ALL OVER THE COUNTRY and even in our home congregations.  Yes, we do have more than one church family that we worship with since Pastor Tom retire.

If you have a website - keep it current even if you must ask a grandchild to do the IT!  If it is just a sign out front, slap on a temporary sign each FRIDAY letting passerbys become aware that you are still in the FISHING business" - Jesus did call us, as He did Peter, Andrew, James and John to be "Fishers of men/ women and children!"

The church phone number should be posted and the message machine current.  "The Christmas Eve Service has been cancelled due to forecasted HEAVY SNOW!" when heard in February or April says:  "Who cares if you want to attend XYZ Church to worship?"

This INFORMATION function is as important today as the smiling Greeter at the door was in previous generations when EVERYONE just KNEW that the Cross on the steeple meant Worship at 11 AM on Sunday Morn' - RAIN OR SHINE!!

 MAY THE PEACE OF GOD BE WITH YOU wherever you journey.

A Winter Memory

What is a winter activity that costs nothing?  When I was the oldest of four children, it was sledding at Indian Hills;  gas up the station wagon, pack some sandwiches and the thermos of hot chocolate and off we went - with Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Jack, their son Tom right behind (or maybe in front of us, it was a LONG TIME AGO!)

And what was the most memorable part of this excursion - the cold, the thrills, the thermos of hot chocolate?  NO, it was the THREE dads bravely protecting the BIG PINE TREE at the bottom of the slope by deflecting the fast approaching sleds.  You might remember this era, prior to plastic saucers, when the sleds had metal runners and steering mechanism.  So the first piece of the sled to hit anything was the horizontal metal connecting the two runners!!   I can only imagine the cuts and bruises on those shins to avoid broken heads and necks of the various youngsters flying down that icy slope under the bright blue Colorado sky!!  THREE BRAVE DADS!

Did WE plan ahead for bathrooms?  Did we eat in the diner where we parked?  Of course not!  These were things that I tried to remember when WE owned a diner across from the hill we locals called SUICIDE HILL here in the Central Sierras.