Our first meeting in a while was last week in Thaxton, Mississippi. I know what you all are thinking. I have been there twice, and I’m still not entirely sure exactly where it is. At any rate, there is a great church there and we had a good meeting there last week.
The only real obstacle we encountered all week long was that half of the church was out with the flu. One man, after getting the flu shot, got both types A and B flu virus. Despite the sickness, the pastor went ahead with the meeting and we had a good one. There were several nights in which the Lord was working in the hearts of His people. It was not necessarily a meeting of seeing lots of people down an aisle, but it was a meeting in which we could sense God working in a powerful way.
Our time at our home church has been busy. One day, some of the older men of the church (am I actually in that category now?) were sitting around bemoaning the fact that many young people do not know how to work. The more we complained, the more we had to admit that our sons did not know how to work either. I opined, “It is because no one has ever taught them. We can do the work so much faster ourselves that we never slow down enough to teach them.” From that conversation came the idea of teaching the young men in our church. So far, the men have sided a shed, and built a shoe shelf in a woodworking shop. They are not yet ready to make a living doing siding or building furniture, but they can at least use a screw gun and a cut a straight line with a saw.
Teaching these boys has been a great joy to me. When we finished the vinyl siding on the shed (notice the low-risk choice of project), the boys could look back and say, “We did that.” I was very up front with them in telling that the purpose was not necessarily to cover the shed with siding. The purpose was to teach them how to work. I could not help enjoying the entire outing, especially considering Josiah was one of the boys working. He ran the circular saw just like everybody else and measured pieces of siding along with the others. The boys have had their appetite whetted for real accomplishment. Only the Lord knows where this whole thing will lead.
But it will have to be on hold very soon. We will leave the week after Easter and, except for one Sunday in May, be gone until August.
