Church?

Trying to get everyone to church today was like herding cats. Not my guys, mind you. I have them pretty well trained. =) It’s everyone else. I left the house early this morning to go pick up Ronelo, one of the guys who used to live here. He lives way out on the edge of town, so I told him if he wanted to go to church with us, I’d meet him half way. Not sure what happened, but I waited half an hour and he didn’t show. I called his cell, but his cousin had it. He told me Ronelo left to meet me, but for whatever reason...nada.

So back to the house I went, to pick up the guys. I loaded them up and dropped them off at church, and then went to pick up another friend (who I wrote about the other day) who wanted to come with us as well. I’d forgotten we were starting early this morning (we have breakfast together the first Sunday of every month) so I’d told him the wrong time. I picked him up and headed back to church again.

Halfway through the worship, one of the guys got a phone call and his cousin (Larry, the other kid I talked about the other day) wanted to come to church too. So off I went again to pick him up. He lives about three minutes from our house, so it was basically all the way back to our place. I was half way there when he called and asked if his mom could come too. Well, for sure...the more the merrier. Then I thought about it and eventually called him back and suggested next week would be better for her to come, since we were going to be pretty late getting back to church.

In the end, that was an understatement. I couldn’t find where he told me to meet him, and so by the time we connected and got back to church, it was basically over. We got there in time for the final prayer. As a side note, he told me to meet him at the TIGO (one of our cell phone companies) antenna. I said sure, no problem!  I wasn’t entirely sure where it was, but I vaguely remembered it and I figured how hard could it be to find a big, giant antenna. Hmmm...harder than you’d think as it turns out. You don’t really notice antennas until you’re looking for one. Then you realize there are a LOT of them. I drove around randomly to every antenna I could see before I finally gave up and called him back and waited for him to find me.

So in the end...I didn’t get much church in today. But on the upside, I was happy that we connected again with Larry and my other friend (who did get to go while I spent the morning driving around). We all had lunch together, so in the end it was good. I looked around at the guys eating and laughing and talking today, and I had a “I like what I do and I’m glad God called me here.” moment.  I just sat there watching them and wondered where each of these guys would be this Sunday if God hadn’t started up this ministry.

Thanks again for your support and prayers everyone. This all exists because of your willingness to be used by God. And even if I forget to say it sometimes...we’re thankful for what you do!  =)