For What are We Listening?

I'll never forget that Sunday in July of 2002 at Raymond United Methodist Church in Raymond, LA.  The moment was perfect, and looking back on it over nine years later, there's not a bit of it I would change.

We had reached the point in the service where we invited the children to come forward for the children's moment, and this particular Sunday (I'd been there less than a month) I was more excited about the children's moment than anything.  They came forward, and we were sitting on the steps leading up to the altar, when I said to them I had a secret for just us to share, a secret so important I wasn't going to share it in the sermon, but just with them.  You could feel the anticipation in the air.

I proceeded to tell them that Erin and I were excited to know that very soon there would be the pitter-patter of little feet echoing through the parsonage.  One of the matriarchs of the church, sitting near the front (as she always did), said, "How wonderful!"

My next secret to share with the kids was not only were we expecting it soon, but that it would happen by next Sunday.  (You could feel the anticipation in the room continue to build.)

"Yes," I said, "we will be welcoming our little bundle of joy when we go to pick her up from the Calcasieu Parish Animal Shelter in Lake Charles.  Her name will be Arph."

I'll go to my grave smirking every time I recall that moment.  

It's a miracle I didn't get sent to my grave that very day.

I share this story with you this week as a reminder that we must always be on guard to hear what is being said, not what we want to hear.  We can easily get led in the wrong direction when we allow ourselves to think, "Oh, I know what's coming next."  No, we don't.  That's why we are called to a life of faith and trust - God will lead us.  Let's not assume we know what is next...but trust the one who has brought us this far.

Grace and Peace, Lamar

P.S.  Erin and I want to thank you for your love and support as we said farewell to Arph this week after her brief illness.  We will treasure her now and always.