Over the Thanksgiving weekend Brenda, the boys, and I enjoyed a little time back in Paradise. We met with several families from the church at a home and enjoyed laughing, great food, and more than anything just getting to be together. It was great to see everyone.
Brenda sat around a table surrounded by her girl friends. When I walked over at one point to tell her we needed to be leaving every lady sitting at that table looked at me with eyes that could kill. They were not about to give up their friend without fight. For a moment I thought I might be coming back to Seminole as a single parent as those ladies were going to hold Brenda hostage. I thought I was about to experience a mutiny so I backed away from the table cautiously not wanting to get a knife thrown at my back.
The boys were reunited with their friends. I barely saw them the whole night. They played football and basketball until right up to time to leave. I am so thrilled God worked it out for them to see each other. It was good for them to get to see some of their playmates. Leaving was not easy the first time but it seemed a little easier the second time.
Anna Belle even got to be reunited with her sister Sheeba who resides at the Young house. They have not gotten along so well in the past but did much better this past Friday night. I think Anna Belle may think she is a little better than her sister. She began barking loudly when we got ready to leave as if to say, ‘Hey don’t forget about me! Don’t leave me here.” When we were walking out the door she even growled at a lady who wanted to pet her while Brenda held her. Her Jezabel heart which is black has her fur often shows itself. She was in no way going to get left behind. She slept curled up next to me two out of the three nights we were away. She believes in everyway she is a major part of this family.
I enjoyed getting to visit with everyone. I talked with several men who mean a great deal to me. I enjoyed getting to see my former secretary and her husband. She is in a great deal of pain and is scheduled for back surgery on December 7th. I am going to do everything in my power to make it for that surgery. I enjoyed seeing men I prayed with, coached with, discipled, and bonded with. It was a night filled with surprises as people dropped in all night long many whom we never expected to be there.
We talked about the future and what the Lord is doing in Paradise and Seminole in the present. I was a little embarrassed when one man persisted in asking me how many people were coming to the Sunday morning worship service in Seminole. I tried to dodge the question because I do not want to sound like I am bragging or taking credit for anything that is happening in Seminole. Over and over again I gave God the credit for the growth we have seen in Seminole in just three months. God is working and He alone gets the glory for it. I am simply hanging on for the ride.
All throughout the evening I mingled around the room trying to spend at least a little one on one time with all the people. Before I knew it it was 9:00 p.m. and we had to drive back to Brenda’s sister’s house in Hurst which is about forty five minutes away. Before we left I huddled all the adults in the kitchen and offered up a prayer for them. I had not shed one tear over Paradise since the last Sunday I preached there and we drove out of the parking lot for the last time on August 23rd. But in the middle of that prayer I got choked up and tears began to form. When I finished praying one lady had a tear stain on her sweater and most of the women were wiping tears from their eyes. It was great to see people we love so deeply but not so easy to leave them for the second time.
Of course they all wanted to know how things were going in Seminole. The one thing I miss more than anything is the deep relationships we had and still have with the Paradise church and community. I know that will also happen in Seminole but it will take a little time. I have to remind myself it has only been three months.
I am so glad there is day coming when none of us will ever have to say goodbye again. There will be no more death, no more moves, and no more separations by time or space. There will be a glad reunion for all those who know Jesus Christ as Savior. That happy reunion will go on for endless ages. I look forward to that day.
As we drove around Paradise briefly I saw the football stadium and track where they boys and I dropped gallons of sweat running and working out over the summer months. I saw the Finish Line Café where I ate breakfast most mornings and sat at my table in the corner. I often studied and wrote in my journal while there. Countless conversations about the Lord took place at that table. I shared my faith, counseled, dreamed, and listened to the heavy laden, and all the while developed wonderful relationships with those people.
We drove by the church and I actually got to walk into the offices. Walking into my office and seeing it empty with barren bookshelves standing at attention against the walls was a stark reminder that things have changed for both us and the Paradise church. I looked at all the additions and improvements that were made to the church facilities during the course of the four years we were there and remembered our journey of faith. That journey continues for both Paradise and the Edwards family though our God ordained paths have taken us in different directions.
I got a chance to drive by the land FBC Paradise will one day get to relocate to. I walked that land several times praying and dreaming God’s dream while the pastor of that church. It was a real joy to my heart to get to give the money from our last book signing to them to help them reach this goal. I pray I live long enough to get to see that new building and to watch God make that dream come true.
In many ways as we met with those people it felt like a Sunday night right after church as we had often gathered to fellowship. My heart reconnected with people I love at the soul level. There were the college students whom I got to watch grow up and fulfill the call of God on their individual lives. There were the young couples who came to FBC Paradise under different circumstances and made up the Connections Class Brenda and I taught for a couple of years. There were those I worked with like my secretary and children’s minister. Only God knows the agonizing prayers Brenda and I continue to pray for those people. Only God knows the deep love and tender affections we still have for those people. It is 3:36 a.m. and I couldn’t sleep. As I write about Paradise tears form in my eyes and an ache throbs in my heart as I think about how much I love and miss them. Tears roll down my cheeks as I think about those men, women, and children I love. I got to see two little boys I lead to the Lord. One was saved at the end of our baseball practice of the team I was coaching. He and I sat in the bleachers and talked about how to be saved and we both bowed our heads in prayer. There was another boy who was saved at children’s camp. He and I knelt on our knees as he wept over his sin asking Jesus to forgive him and to save him. I hugged them both tenderly kissing one on the head like I do with my own children. Both them spent the night at our house and my boys went to their house. We were all extended family.
One day I will be reunited with all of those people I love. Though we saw many there were others who were not able to come we love just as deeply and miss just as much. It was good to be reunited and a little hard to leave all over again.
Yesterday we spent close to seven hours traveling back to West Texas. It was around 4:30 p.m. when we turned off telephone road onto Hwy 385 back in Seminole. I turned to look at Brenda and I asked her if Seminole felt like home yet. We were lugging a U-Haul trailer with furniture that had been given to us by Paul and Jennifer. She looked back at me with contentment in her eyes and said yes. Seminole is home now. This is not just a stopping off place. It is not another rung on the ladder of ministry success. Seminole is not just where we serve and live; it is home.
Last night we began moving a few things into the miracle house at 2112 NW Ave B. We have all but two pieces of furniture in the living room. It was fun trying to figure out how to arrange it. We hope by the end of this week to be nearly moved in. God called us here, and God has begun planting our roots here. There is no way Seminole will ever replace Paradise in our hearts. We will never forget those precious people. God is creating a new love and a new place in our hearts for Seminole. In time we will form new memories and will experience fresh moves of God right here. In time, the bonds between a pastor and a flock will run deep and we will have our own faith journey to walk and our own dreams to believe God for. God is daily giving me a love for the Seminole flock and for this community. In time, we will love and be loved just as deeply as we experienced in Paradise. We have been extremely blessed and accepted in Seminole with open arms. I am overwhelmed with the blessings of God in allowing me to pastor such a great church.
For both Paradise and Seminole whom Brenda and I love as deep as we know how, I rejoice that in eternity I will not have to choose one over the other. I can worship with both flocks and I can be reunited with both sets of people. The tears I shed even now as I write this will be wiped away in Heaven. Gathered around the throne of God we will join in Heavenly anthem, “Worthy is the Lamb!’ We will do this together.
As great as that reunion will be and the reunion to see my Momma, sister Jamie, Papaw and Mammaw, along with so many who have touched our lives over the years I will be pulled to the Jesus, my King, Sovereign Lord, Gracious Redeemer, Savior, and Master. At His feet I will fall in both shame at my unworthiness and unbridled joy that I have been counted righteous by Him by faith and kneel in His presence. I hope to kiss his feet and spend ages thanking Him for His goodness to me. I will thank Him for His goodness for the Paradise years and I will equally thank Him for His goodness for our ministry in Seminole. I will thank Him that this nobody from the Pineywoods of East Texas was saved, hand picked to preach the gospel, refined by the fires of affliction, and given the mandate to preach the endless truth of the scriptures while getting to love and serve people as a pastor. That will be the ultimate reunion in Paradise. Until then, this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. I will seek to enjoy life and ministry here but know that a glad reunion day is coming.
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