knock knock

Guess who showed up at my door last week?

And so we play this game of body language. It's all that's left, but I have consecrated it. Any message is, what; 70% body language anyway? Here is what she does: she recognizes me, forces herself not to be happy, lifts her face toward the sky, and looks far off in the distance, like I do not exist.

From a post titled, The Cult in My Life written November 2008.

She wants me to come to her high school graduation ceremony. Just like my other times spent with the other members of this church, once they end up in conversation, they don't want to let me go. She lingered on standing there, in this awkward silence. Maybe she was wanting something from me, to say something? I don't know. Either way it was a most pleasant exchange as if nothing had ever fallen apart. Hmm! The ceremony is in their sanctuary, and it is tomorrow evening. I am so excited to see them all again. I don't expect to change the pastor's mind, though it seemed to me his knowledge of scripture or even the use of it was spare. But I do plan on taking with me the Zane Hodges/Bob Bryant track "The Best News You'll Ever Hear" which is a track on assurance of salvation, in my opinion excellent for this situation, and I can give it to those who want to talk to me about spiritual things.

There are some other happenings which require my faith and obedience in the coming months.

I mentioned that God was leading me to share Christ with the neighbors just outside my reach. I've talked about one particular neighbor who has recently returned to Christ, in a previous post. I'll call her "Wendy." Wendy has become a delight to my church. She reads "Pilate" as "pilates" and she only started praying a few months back. She wasn't even able to completely understand what Jesus had done for her till she started coming to church with me starting back in December. She loves the LORD so much, and she can't drive, so somehow she has adopted every habit I do, the two bible studies, Sunday morning and Sunday evening services. She cannot wait to be back at church. The ladies at my table were a little uncomfortable at first. She does happen to have the aroma of marijuana, since she has a medical permit to use it.... But they come up to me when she's not around and say, "Wendy is such a breath of fresh air!" I think this quite a testimony to God's priorities of cleansing the inside of the cup or dish before worrying out the outer. She lovingly dotes over her Radmacher Study Bible I bought her, falling asleep and drooling on it as she stays up learning. That's holy drool. :D

She has two sons, ages 13 and 14. The thirteen year old watched baptisms with me and then received Christ in the wordless book. And her older son received Christ while at our church in April. Praise God! Now these two boys are bringing some of their friends to church. I haven't had a report on their belief-status, but one boy belongs to a very troubled family who has a little sister I intend to invite to the Kid's Club next month.

She and I are starting a bible study with the neighbors near her. We've been talking about this for some time, and I didn't do squat. Wendy, on the other hand, did. She has been making what she calls "God-shots," trying to warm them up to recognizing God. She has been reading the left behind series to some of the kids in the neighborhood, too. This is her capability-level at sharing Christ in my opinion. I'm pleased but I've been trying to get her trained to repeat the Wordless Book by CEF. It's perfect since she discovered that doing a bible study would be incredibly intimidating because all of the neighbors are illiterate. We've been struggling on how to do a bible study if they cannot read? We've got some videos.

Wendy wants to start a "God-club." Where we watch a video or talk about God and have lunch. So the first visit was supposed to be at my house this week, but we didn't get it connected again. Sigh. But I am determined more than ever to start, I don't want Satan to distract me.

Also this week, I happened to run into another neighbor, a young mother who never talked about spiritual things with me before. She lamented that one of the Christians in our neighborhood filed a complaint on her, then said she thought she had the most in common with me out of everyone in the neighborhood. I'm glad.... She said she was thinking about starting to go to church. She said she went to church a long time ago before having kids. And for a long time, till recently, she thought that the only way to be saved was by attending church, but now she knows better. I said, "Hold on a sec while I run in the house." I got that track "The Best News You'll Ever Hear," by Hodges/Bryant, and showed her how it just explains for her exactly what she's already learned. I think she is going to come with this very Sunday. As I transport Wendy in my own car, she is going to be following behind me in her own. God's little wagon trail to church!

Oh, so many people in our neighborhood are coming to my church, now. It's crazy! A man who used to work at the corner store who I barely convinced to come walk his son in on the last day of the 5-Day Kid's Club, last summer, started attending a few months later! I remember watching this grown father listening to the teens share Christ.

Now God has broken me recently. He's shown me that I like myself just a little too much for my own good. I see how important it is for me to find my righteousness, in Him, by faith, and without that I'm toast. As a result I've been praying more earnestly asking Him show me what it is He wants me to do. Recently I finished "Teaching Children Effectively" so that I could go on a mission and evangelize children. I thought, Rwanda. Door was really closed. Then I thought, Brazil. Door just closed on that, too. I don't understand. I'm a little confused. Meanwhile when I attended a banquet for CEF I felt another calling to... gulp, start a Good News Club in my elementary school next year. Both my daughters will be attending. It was so hard to even admit it. I just don't know much about organizing and leading it and so forth but I realized God would supply that if it was His desire. So I called Betty and told her my thought. She caught me on Sunday and confirmed that three other people, including a teacher in the school, had contacted her as well in the last three weeks, saying that they were led to start it there, too. Wow. Okay, God.

I do have some interest in going to the Dominican Republic. We'll see.

I just desire that one way or another God will permit me the chance to share the gospel with unsaved women and children. I plan at this point, to be the caregiver for my grandmother during nights. At this time she is not always aware of who is talking with her. I pray for that lucidness so I can share the gospel. Please pray for that too? I'm starting even this evening.

Thanks for visiting.