Over the last week I've spoken to several family members and a few friends who have told me they have been reading this log. I just want to say "thanks." You are the people for whom this blog is written.
While the length and details of the posts mostly serve as an outlet for my amature writing efforts; the information contained in them are to keep you informed. It's a real joy to know my posts are being read. Now I have actual verbal confirmation from others that I can recall any time during my day that verifies the fact that "I'm read."
If there is someone you know who might be interested in reading this blog please feel free to send them the link. Electronic word of mouth is how Internet blogs became so popular in the first place. Who am I to buck the system?
I was saddened to learn that Harvey Korman died a couple of days ago. Korman was a wonderful and valuable cast member of the Carol Burnette show in the 1970's. The show was the cherry on the top of the entertainment sundae that was the CBS Saturday night prime time lineup for nearly a decade. At it's best that line up was: M*A*S*H, All In The Family, Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show (the one where Bob's a Chicago psychologist not a Vermont innkeeper) and Carol Burnette Show. The shows ran from 8 to 10 PM and nearly always won the nightly ratings war for their network.
That line up gave American television watchers reason to stay home on Saturday nights when I was a teenager; myself included. You can insert your own "That's because he couldn't get a date" joke here. However you would be wrong because I chose to spend that night of the week at home in front of the TV. Here's a brief explanation as to why.
With only one color TV in the house when I was a teenager I usually had to watch what my parents wanted to watch at night or else go watch the small (we're talking 10 inch screen) black & white TV I had in my room. On any other night of the week I would be content to do just that. But on Saturday nights my parents regularly went to visit friends to play cards or some kind of board game; my younger sister would usually be on a sleepover at a friends house. I would have the whole house to myself. This meant the fridge and, most importantly, the television. The only thing that made those nights better was when my best friend, my cousin, would come over and watch with me. We spent the whole night laughing until our sides hurt.
As I said the whole CBS lineup built up to the "Burnette Show" which was a variety show based on sketch comedy. The most popular sketches were those that featured just Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. The two were comic actors not joke tellers. Their funny actions made me laugh not their one liners.
Conway was the comic and Korman was the straight man. What was great about Korman though was that he couldn't keep a straight face. When Conway would go into his antics 90% of the time Korman would break up right on camera. As disclosed by Tim Conway after the show was off the air; for him getting Harvey to laugh was the unspoken challenge of every sketch the two of them did together.
Prior to the "Burnette Show" an unwritten rule in the world of television comedy was that laughing during a sketch took away from the comedic effect. Harvey Korman was a integral part of the duo that broke that rule. As I said it was sad to hear of his death. However thanks to the wonderful world of DVD entertainment his antics with Conway will be around for future generations to see.
Friday night my wife and I watched the 2 hour season finale of "Lost." We recorded on our DVR and zipped through the commercials. For me it only held a couple of surprises but nothing that was unexpected. I won't reveal them in case someone reading this is a fan and hasn't watched it yet. Despite the lack of any jaw dropping events or revelations about the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 I still absolutely LOVED the show.
I think "Lost" is the best show on TV. I really enjoy the way the past, present, and future story lines are intermingled; each reavealing bits of information and clues about the other. It really keeps you guessing in several different directions at the same time. The writers and producers are unraveling this wonderful story like someone slowly pulling a thread on a cheap sweater. You know how it's going to end but you enjoy watching the process just the same. The excitement and anticipation of each episode keeps me on the edge of my seat the way the "Myst" computer games did a few years ago. Only for me in Lost the puzzle that has to be solved to "Win the game" is learning the ultimate secret of the island. The plane crash survivors, Ben & "The Others" and other characters from both on and off the island are the series of minor puzzles that, once solved, will together finally reveal the end of "Lost"
Having said that now that I've watched the last episode of this season I'm going to have to wait until next January to see new episodes of my favorite show on TV. Thanks for making me wait ABC. I guess I could show my displeasure with their scheduling decision and not watch next season. Yeah! That's what I'll do. I won't watch next year. I don't care if I don't ever find out just exactly what the Darma project was all about; or just exactly what the smoke monster is or why.... NO I CAN'T DO IT! I've got to go back. I've got to! I'm afraid that after 4 seasons the network execs at ABC have me by the island. When "Lost" returns in January I'll be watching.
Once again thanks for taking the time to read my blog and indulging my endless rantings about and remembrances of television. Maybe next time I'll give you a list of my top ten M*A*S*H episodes or explain exactly why I enjoy game shows so much. Be prepared both could take a while but then again when it comes to my posts things usually do.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Practice Is A Pain In The Neck
Well as the last post stated I have been practicing for my June 9 performance. I have been doing it in my newly created practice area. I practiced for an hour the first day (Tuesday) and for 30-45 minutes the second day (Wednesday).
On Wednesday night as I was getting ready to retire for the evening I noticed that the back right side of my neck was bothering me. It hurt like I had pulled a muscle or something. I asked my wife to look at it and maybe try and massage some of the discomfort from it. Upon examination she discovered that not just the neck but the muscle going across my right collar gone was swollen. It was also very painful.
She asked me if I had lifted anything heavy that would have pulled the muscle. I told her "no" that I hadn't done anything very physical during the day. I had spent the afternoon practicing my sketch. That's when I realized what had happened. I had ventriloquist shoulder.
Not being one who has practices too much (or should I say "ever") I didn't realize the effect sitting with your hand in the back of a character and arm at an angle for an hour at a time would have on me.
I'm very excited about the opportunity I have coming up at the library. I am also motivated by how much practice I am doing and how prepared I am going to be for this event. However, I am finding that one of the most vital elements that goes into making a ventriloquist better, practice, is, initially a literal pain in the neck.
On Wednesday night as I was getting ready to retire for the evening I noticed that the back right side of my neck was bothering me. It hurt like I had pulled a muscle or something. I asked my wife to look at it and maybe try and massage some of the discomfort from it. Upon examination she discovered that not just the neck but the muscle going across my right collar gone was swollen. It was also very painful.
She asked me if I had lifted anything heavy that would have pulled the muscle. I told her "no" that I hadn't done anything very physical during the day. I had spent the afternoon practicing my sketch. That's when I realized what had happened. I had ventriloquist shoulder.
Not being one who has practices too much (or should I say "ever") I didn't realize the effect sitting with your hand in the back of a character and arm at an angle for an hour at a time would have on me.
I'm very excited about the opportunity I have coming up at the library. I am also motivated by how much practice I am doing and how prepared I am going to be for this event. However, I am finding that one of the most vital elements that goes into making a ventriloquist better, practice, is, initially a literal pain in the neck.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Now In Rehearsal
After the 3 day weekend it was back to the daily routine around here today. For Paula that meant going back to work for a short but busy week. What makes it worse is it's the week the close out the last month's books. I didn't expect her home before 8 PM tonight. I was surprised when she got home a little earlier than that.
My day was spent working on things around the house, doing some grocery shopping, laundry, making dinner, and preparing to teach vacation bible school at our church next week.
I spent a part of my weekend finishing the script for my June 9 performance at the local library. The punchlines have been placed and the gags chosen so now it's time to start rehearsing.
I gathered my props, set up the practice area, and prepared my puppet. Then I spent an hour slowly going over the script for the first time. I plan on rehearsing the act 2 times a day for the next 2 weeks. That will give me time to memorize and revise until I'm well prepared. This is really the earliest I've ever started practicing for a performance. I know that's nothing to brag about. If I want to get better I have to do a lot more practicing.
The reason this rehearsal period is special is because it's the first time I am able to rehearse in my designated practice area. It took me a couple of months to clean up the room that we use mostly for storage and where we keep the dog's crates. I moved and rearranged things so that area in front of the wall mirror would be open enabling me to use it for practice.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal when you read it. But it's a big step forward for me. Having a special area will help me get in the habit of practicing and I will gain confidence in my performance as a ventriloquist. Now I have that area and I'm using it.
My first rehearsal wasn't that great and the routine is going to need some fine tuning but I've taken that first step on the road toward being a better performer. According to all successful ventriloquists the key to a good performance is practice, practice, practice.
That's what I'll be doing from now until June 9.
My day was spent working on things around the house, doing some grocery shopping, laundry, making dinner, and preparing to teach vacation bible school at our church next week.
I spent a part of my weekend finishing the script for my June 9 performance at the local library. The punchlines have been placed and the gags chosen so now it's time to start rehearsing.
I gathered my props, set up the practice area, and prepared my puppet. Then I spent an hour slowly going over the script for the first time. I plan on rehearsing the act 2 times a day for the next 2 weeks. That will give me time to memorize and revise until I'm well prepared. This is really the earliest I've ever started practicing for a performance. I know that's nothing to brag about. If I want to get better I have to do a lot more practicing.
The reason this rehearsal period is special is because it's the first time I am able to rehearse in my designated practice area. It took me a couple of months to clean up the room that we use mostly for storage and where we keep the dog's crates. I moved and rearranged things so that area in front of the wall mirror would be open enabling me to use it for practice.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal when you read it. But it's a big step forward for me. Having a special area will help me get in the habit of practicing and I will gain confidence in my performance as a ventriloquist. Now I have that area and I'm using it.
My first rehearsal wasn't that great and the routine is going to need some fine tuning but I've taken that first step on the road toward being a better performer. According to all successful ventriloquists the key to a good performance is practice, practice, practice.
That's what I'll be doing from now until June 9.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
A Blessed Sunday
Today was a Good Sunday. While most usually are, today will be a memorable for me for a couple of reasons.
First of all I got to be a "Courier" for the day. You see a trio called "The Couriers" were my favorite gospel group when I was growing up. Today in church I sang a song they made popular over 30 years ago. I sang a song called "Statue of Liberty" (see yesterday's post for more info about the song) to begin the morning worship service at my church. It set the tone for the entire service. Being Memorial Day weekend the entire service has a patriotic theme to it as the congregation honored those who have and are currently serving in the armed forces.
The service is one of my favorites each and every year. I was nervous when I sang and didn't do as good a job as I would have liked to do. However everyone was very complimentary to me afterwards. I also got chills when the church choir sang anthems of each of all branches of the our military in tribute to our veterans. Of course front and center in the heart of both my wife and me, was my son, James, currently serving in Iraq. We miss and pray for him always but especially today.
My second memorable event of the day came when I looked at our local town paper. It included a special pullout section with details of all of the summer reading programs scheduled at our area libraries. My name was in the section about our town branch because I'm scheduled to do a ventriloquist performance there June 9.
Now there's really not anything notable about the fact the my name was in the paper. I've had that happen before; even in the national publication, Parade Magazine. But what was special this time was that my name was printed with the word "Ventriloquist" in front of it. Its the first time I've received public acknowledgement as a ventriloquist in such a large market. Even if no one else thinks its a big deal I am thrilled about it. I will cut out that part of the paper and keep it with my personal memorabilia for the rest of my life.
So there you have a couple of reasons for me to remember today for a long time. I got to fulfill a dream of singing a Couriers song in church and I was acknowledged as a ventriloquist in a widely distributed publication.
Okay so we won't mention that my wife had to go into her office late in the afternoon because things went wrong during a special project she had other people working on. That would spoil the celebratory spirit of this post. I'm sure it didn't thrill my wife very much either.
But Sunday May 25, 2008 will always be a memorable day for me. I am very grateful to God for blessing me in such special way.
First of all I got to be a "Courier" for the day. You see a trio called "The Couriers" were my favorite gospel group when I was growing up. Today in church I sang a song they made popular over 30 years ago. I sang a song called "Statue of Liberty" (see yesterday's post for more info about the song) to begin the morning worship service at my church. It set the tone for the entire service. Being Memorial Day weekend the entire service has a patriotic theme to it as the congregation honored those who have and are currently serving in the armed forces.
The service is one of my favorites each and every year. I was nervous when I sang and didn't do as good a job as I would have liked to do. However everyone was very complimentary to me afterwards. I also got chills when the church choir sang anthems of each of all branches of the our military in tribute to our veterans. Of course front and center in the heart of both my wife and me, was my son, James, currently serving in Iraq. We miss and pray for him always but especially today.
My second memorable event of the day came when I looked at our local town paper. It included a special pullout section with details of all of the summer reading programs scheduled at our area libraries. My name was in the section about our town branch because I'm scheduled to do a ventriloquist performance there June 9.
Now there's really not anything notable about the fact the my name was in the paper. I've had that happen before; even in the national publication, Parade Magazine. But what was special this time was that my name was printed with the word "Ventriloquist" in front of it. Its the first time I've received public acknowledgement as a ventriloquist in such a large market. Even if no one else thinks its a big deal I am thrilled about it. I will cut out that part of the paper and keep it with my personal memorabilia for the rest of my life.
So there you have a couple of reasons for me to remember today for a long time. I got to fulfill a dream of singing a Couriers song in church and I was acknowledged as a ventriloquist in a widely distributed publication.
Okay so we won't mention that my wife had to go into her office late in the afternoon because things went wrong during a special project she had other people working on. That would spoil the celebratory spirit of this post. I'm sure it didn't thrill my wife very much either.
But Sunday May 25, 2008 will always be a memorable day for me. I am very grateful to God for blessing me in such special way.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Opportunity Comes Knocking
Throughout the New Testament from the gospels to the letters written by the Apostle Paul we are told that we as Christians should serve others. As a deacon of my church I am committed to serving the members by ministering to their needs whenever possible.
Serving others and not just serving myself is something that has really been on my mind a lot lately. I want to help as many people in my life as I can. This is why I felt very badly when I couldn't help paint my son's new house because I wasn't physically able to do the work. It was a great way to show him a spirit of service but I have to look for other ways show him in the future.
However the opportunities to be a servant in several different ways have presented themselves to me over the last few weeks. This week I started writing a ventriloquist sketch I will be presenting when I do a voluntary performance at the town library on June 9. It's the kick off of their summer reading program and I'm humbled to be their "premier performer" as their flier says.
Another opportunity to serve will happen tomorrow in church. I will be singing a solo to start the morning worship service. I am excited about this because I am singing one of my favorite gospel songs. It's called "The Statue of Liberty." The lyrics compare the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of our freedom for Americans and The Cross as a symbol of freedom for Christians. I'm not the world's best singer but I know I can sing it from my heart. I'm just glad to be singing a song that means something to me and hope it does to the congregation as well.
The 3rd opportunity is two fold and involves the privilege of obeying Jesus' command to spread the gospel and being of service to my family. I am currently reading a book titled "Personal Evangelism and You" by Mark Dever (my new favorite author). The book talks about a Christian's responsibility to share the Gospel of Christ with others. It explores when, where, why and how they can do it. Two chances to share the gospel have happened in my life recently. They both involve members of my family. Sharing your faith with a family member is probably one of the more difficult aspects of personal evangelism.
Right now I have an on going correspondence with my cousin's son who is also, ironically, my God son. He's currently in prison in Pennsylvania and has become a Muslim during his time there. I haven't had the chance to totally share the gospel with him but I am doing my best to rebuild our relationship into one of trust and understanding so I can share the real Good News of Jesus Christ soon.
The other chance I've had to share the gospel with someone in my family is with my cousin who lives in Pennsylvania and is 6 months older than me. He and I were best friends growing up and have been close throughout our adult lives.
This past week I received an email from my cousin in which he shared with me that he has almost "no faith" any more and that there's nobody "up there" watching out for us. He also sighted the recent tragedy in the life of gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman as a reason for the his belief that God does not exist.
His words gave me concern me for his sake. We were both raised in church and continued to go through our teenage and young adult years. As a matter of fact we both asked Christ into our hearts at summer camp when we were 11 years old.
Again the harshness of his words sparked a feeling of urgency for him. I knew I had to write something positive back in response to his negative remarks about God. However I knew the subtle approach I am using with his son would not work.
On Friday I wrote him a long and detailed email. It's probably the most difficult thing I've ever written in that I wanted to make sure I said the right thing. I prayed the night before that God would help me share the words my cousin needed to read so that he may be persuaded to consider looking for God again.
I spent the day yesterday researching and writing. I sent my message to him in an email late Friday night. I haven't gotten anything back from him yet. I'm not sure what he's going to write but I hope it's a positive response. If not I hope what I've shared with him will find root in his heart and or at least find a place in his memory. So that one day when he really needs to look for God again the Holy Spirit can lead him to remember my words. Perhaps then they will help lead him back to God. My prayer for my cousin is that God continues to work in his life and lead him back to the point of salvation.
So there you have the opportunities God has allowed to come my way recently. I am so happy that I have had my eyes open enough to recognize the chances to serve that God has set before me. My continued prayer is that they will keep coming and I will keep serving. If opportunity to be a servant for Christ knocks on my door I want to be there to answer.
Serving others and not just serving myself is something that has really been on my mind a lot lately. I want to help as many people in my life as I can. This is why I felt very badly when I couldn't help paint my son's new house because I wasn't physically able to do the work. It was a great way to show him a spirit of service but I have to look for other ways show him in the future.
However the opportunities to be a servant in several different ways have presented themselves to me over the last few weeks. This week I started writing a ventriloquist sketch I will be presenting when I do a voluntary performance at the town library on June 9. It's the kick off of their summer reading program and I'm humbled to be their "premier performer" as their flier says.
Another opportunity to serve will happen tomorrow in church. I will be singing a solo to start the morning worship service. I am excited about this because I am singing one of my favorite gospel songs. It's called "The Statue of Liberty." The lyrics compare the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of our freedom for Americans and The Cross as a symbol of freedom for Christians. I'm not the world's best singer but I know I can sing it from my heart. I'm just glad to be singing a song that means something to me and hope it does to the congregation as well.
The 3rd opportunity is two fold and involves the privilege of obeying Jesus' command to spread the gospel and being of service to my family. I am currently reading a book titled "Personal Evangelism and You" by Mark Dever (my new favorite author). The book talks about a Christian's responsibility to share the Gospel of Christ with others. It explores when, where, why and how they can do it. Two chances to share the gospel have happened in my life recently. They both involve members of my family. Sharing your faith with a family member is probably one of the more difficult aspects of personal evangelism.
Right now I have an on going correspondence with my cousin's son who is also, ironically, my God son. He's currently in prison in Pennsylvania and has become a Muslim during his time there. I haven't had the chance to totally share the gospel with him but I am doing my best to rebuild our relationship into one of trust and understanding so I can share the real Good News of Jesus Christ soon.
The other chance I've had to share the gospel with someone in my family is with my cousin who lives in Pennsylvania and is 6 months older than me. He and I were best friends growing up and have been close throughout our adult lives.
This past week I received an email from my cousin in which he shared with me that he has almost "no faith" any more and that there's nobody "up there" watching out for us. He also sighted the recent tragedy in the life of gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman as a reason for the his belief that God does not exist.
His words gave me concern me for his sake. We were both raised in church and continued to go through our teenage and young adult years. As a matter of fact we both asked Christ into our hearts at summer camp when we were 11 years old.
Again the harshness of his words sparked a feeling of urgency for him. I knew I had to write something positive back in response to his negative remarks about God. However I knew the subtle approach I am using with his son would not work.
On Friday I wrote him a long and detailed email. It's probably the most difficult thing I've ever written in that I wanted to make sure I said the right thing. I prayed the night before that God would help me share the words my cousin needed to read so that he may be persuaded to consider looking for God again.
I spent the day yesterday researching and writing. I sent my message to him in an email late Friday night. I haven't gotten anything back from him yet. I'm not sure what he's going to write but I hope it's a positive response. If not I hope what I've shared with him will find root in his heart and or at least find a place in his memory. So that one day when he really needs to look for God again the Holy Spirit can lead him to remember my words. Perhaps then they will help lead him back to God. My prayer for my cousin is that God continues to work in his life and lead him back to the point of salvation.
So there you have the opportunities God has allowed to come my way recently. I am so happy that I have had my eyes open enough to recognize the chances to serve that God has set before me. My continued prayer is that they will keep coming and I will keep serving. If opportunity to be a servant for Christ knocks on my door I want to be there to answer.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Bath Day For My Dogs
Today was bath day for my dogs. Angel and Dory (left to right respectively) are nice and dry in the picture on the right. However tonight before I put them in their crates for the night I gave them each a bath. I do this to allow them time to dry off completely over night. As any dog owner who bathes their pet themselves it can be quite an ordeal; at least it is in our house.I bathe them individually. Because they're rather smart they became aware of the impending cleansing the minute I take their special towels from off the top of their crates to the bathroom.
The majority of their resistance comes in getting them to the tub. Once I take off their collars they each try to get me to let them out the back door. They resist going down the hall until I "guide" them in that direction. Instead of taking the first right into the bathroom they both go left and try hiding in our bedroom. I believe they are hoping I will change my mind and just decide to go to bed. You know forget the whole thing. They each give me a look as if to say "Gee Ron it's so nice and cool in this room and look at that bed. Why don't you just call it a night?" Despite their attempt to put it off; again I coax them across the hall to their cleansing experience.
Angel's bath includes: lifting her into the tub twice because she jumps out during the rinsing processing; and using twice as much shampoo as I will on Dory due to her thick coat. She's relatively quite during the bath but resists every time I have to turn her one way or the other to rinse her off. After she shakes twice while the shower curtain is closed I dry her off with two towels. I open the door and give her the verbal command to go to her crate.
My knees are hurting from kneeling at the tub and are imprinted with the small squares of our tile floor. I am just about as wet as the dogs but I am only halfway done.
Once Angel is securely in her crate I put on my Indiana Jones hat and begin searching for Dory. By now she has found some place to hide where she thinks I won't find her. Her usual place is under my wife's feet. Paula is usually sitting at the computer room which is about as far away from the bathroom as you can get and still be in our house.
I find Dory sitting in front of my wife laying on her feet trying hard as she can not to be seen. I go through the same resistance routine as I did with Angel but finally get Dory into the tub.
With Dory most of the battle is getting her to understand that her bath is inevitable. Once she's in the tub and the water is turned on she becomes very quite and passive. I guess she just wants to get it over with. She's very cooperative and the bath takes half the time and trouble as Angel's.
Again the same shaking and drying routine follows the rinsing. Once the bathroom door is opened Dory hurries toward her crate but not before a quick detour. She runs into the computer room and rubs her ears on the carpet trying to dry them herself.
As a reward I give them a little larger serving of green beans in their dinner than usual. I mix their food with their favorite low cal vegetable, and fill their water bottles. I pet them both as I put their dishes into their crates. I make sure I pat them on the head and tell them what good dogs they are. I turn out the light and say "good night." Tomorrow their coats be dry, will feel soft and they will smell good once again.
One of their least favorite rituals is over again for another 6 weeks or so. What they don't know is that tomorrow night before bedtime they will get their monthly heartworm medicine and their flea and tick treatments. But that's not anywhere near as much trouble. In fact none of this is any trouble for me. I love my dogs and wouldn't know what do to without them. They are truly one of the best blessings in my life.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sharing What I've Learned About God
Over the last year or so I have learned a lot about God through studying the Bible and allowing him to work in my life. I have learned from the scriptures that He is always true to his promises but may use different means or ways to fulfill them for different people. More about that in a moment but first let me tell you why I bring this subject up.
Tonight after my small group bible study at church I went into the youth room for the first time in a long time just to hang out with a couple of the kids who were there. One of them was asking the youth pastor, Jason, about God's nature and how he worked.
Realizing that this boy was asking the same questions I had been looking into myself I joined in the conversation. Jason explained that God must always be true to His nature and will always do what He promises to do including meeting the needs of those who have faith in and follow Him. He gave the example of God supplying Abraham with a ram just as he was about to sacrifice his son, Issac.
I added that God sometimes comes through with His promises in different ways. He met Abraham's need for a substitute sacrifice at the exact moment he needed it. In contrast, I explained, God began meeting Joseph's brothers need for food during the famine 7 years before it even started. He caused Joseph to be elevated to governor of Egypt which put him in charge of storing up grain and other food for the future famine that God allowed him (Joseph) to forsee.
I challenged the boy to look in the Bible and find other ways God keeps His promises in different ways. Being able to help him with the explaination of something God had already taught me was very encouraging. As I said it out loud I realized that not only was it something that I had learned it was something that I believed.
So while I initially went into the youth room to socialize and joke around with them it turned out that God gave me a gift that confirms my faith and growth in him. I am so happy to have been a help to someone else while at the same time encouraged through the Holy Spirit that I am on the path where God wants me to be.
Thank You Jesus for your faithfulness and love for me.
Tonight after my small group bible study at church I went into the youth room for the first time in a long time just to hang out with a couple of the kids who were there. One of them was asking the youth pastor, Jason, about God's nature and how he worked.
Realizing that this boy was asking the same questions I had been looking into myself I joined in the conversation. Jason explained that God must always be true to His nature and will always do what He promises to do including meeting the needs of those who have faith in and follow Him. He gave the example of God supplying Abraham with a ram just as he was about to sacrifice his son, Issac.
I added that God sometimes comes through with His promises in different ways. He met Abraham's need for a substitute sacrifice at the exact moment he needed it. In contrast, I explained, God began meeting Joseph's brothers need for food during the famine 7 years before it even started. He caused Joseph to be elevated to governor of Egypt which put him in charge of storing up grain and other food for the future famine that God allowed him (Joseph) to forsee.
I challenged the boy to look in the Bible and find other ways God keeps His promises in different ways. Being able to help him with the explaination of something God had already taught me was very encouraging. As I said it out loud I realized that not only was it something that I had learned it was something that I believed.
So while I initially went into the youth room to socialize and joke around with them it turned out that God gave me a gift that confirms my faith and growth in him. I am so happy to have been a help to someone else while at the same time encouraged through the Holy Spirit that I am on the path where God wants me to be.
Thank You Jesus for your faithfulness and love for me.
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