I have written this post at least a hundred times over the years. I have never posted it, never wanted to post it and still do not want to post it.
But like a sore tooth or an itch it keeps coming back to me and only through writing it do I have any hope of maybe healing this driving need in me to preach this the only sermon I have ever had in me.
If after reading my words you think, how could she write that, who does she think she is, what a hypocrite, whatever you think I promise you I have thought also. But God has let me get away with not following His will in this for years. Dr Phil likes to say "this is not my first rodeo" well I have been in the belly of a whale and I have seen the hand, writing on the wall. Don't plan on spending anymore time in those places, so God's will, not mine.
MY ONLY SERMON
MY ONLY TESTIMONY
It was Thanksgiving Day, I have forgotten the year, but it has been many years since.
My brother was having dinner at his house that year, I was looking forward to a great meal and a hard earned 4 day weekend. I had plans of relaxing, eating lots of good food and going back for more.
.
My brother was then and still is a Deputy in Lake County, Florida and just before dinner was ready he received a call requesting volunteers. A little girl was lost, missing from her home nearby, they needed help scouring the woods, it was going to be cold that night. I looked at my own child, my daughter and knew there was no choice to be made, I had to help, I had to look for this lost child.
I had never done a search before, and have not since, but would do one again if called or asked to search for a lost child.
We searched that day until past dark, scouring subdivisions that I would not have gone into day or night on my own. The people were kind, concerned, offering prayer for this lost child.
We were asked to come back the next day, there were hundreds of searchers, the buses overflowing with people, we searched the woods that day and the next. By Saturday we knew where this search would end. We were told to look for freshly turned earth, to flag any found, notify a deputy who would check it out, to search for this lost child.
Sunday morning dawned a bright and beautiful day. I was a mess, every muscle in my body screamed at me to stay home, not move, pamper myself. I had more than earned it, I knew where this search would end. I did not want to search for this lost child.
I slept/drove to the search base that day, wearily climbed the steps onto the bus and fell asleep. I woke when the Deputy in charge of us that day climbed onto the bus and said good morning. When I looked up there was such a look of disgust and contempt on his face that I glanced around to see what the problem was. There were maybe 10 people on the bus that morning and they all looked as bad as me, we were truly a sorry looking lot.
The Deputy told us that we would only be searching a few hours that day, someone had reported seeing the father of the child in this huge pasture but since there were so few of us it would take hours to search.
He then looked at this pitiful lot of humanity and said something that haunted me all that day and all the years since. He said "I guess we know where all the good Christians are today, in church!"
I know all the arguments, all the excuses, all the reasons why. You don't need to try to justify to me, I have heard it all before. What I don't understand and never will is WHY ARE YOU STILL SITTING IN YOUR PEW?????????????
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