The past few weeks have been very busy. The good kind of busy — fulfilling, but not exhausting. Most every day has had a “to do” list that needs to be accomplished by the end of the day. Thankfully, there haven’t been many days when it’s been so hectic that I’ve had to run frantically all over the place! In the midst of even the busiest of these days, God has reminded me that I’m never too busy to stop and have a conversation with someone. Ministry, after all, revolves around relationships. I’m so thankful that God has provided me with so many recent opportunities to build relationships with others.
One day I was invited to a parishioner’s house for Sunday dinner. Another day I had a heart-to-heart talk with a Romanian coworker. Yet another day had a good visit with my neighbor. I’m so glad to have reached a level of language acquisition where I can understand almost all of what is said.
Although I can’t tell you every meaningful conversation I’ve had, here are two which had special meaning:
One day, as I was walking down a street that I don’t normally walk down, a woman who used to attend our church and elderly club came out the front door of her house. She is homebound now and is unable to come to church. She was glad that God had timed my passing by her house with the moment she was at the door. I stayed and we talked for a while. We reminisced about a church picnic back in 2002, as well as her baptism in the church. It meant a lot for her to have a visitor.
Another day, when stopping by someone's house for what I thought would be a quick visit, I ended up spending a half hour listening to how things used to be during the Communist era. It’s one thing to read about this in a book. It’s completely different to hear the personal stories from someone who lived through it!
1 comment:
Perhaps we all need to slow down a bit and anticipate some of these awesome moments when God can bring an unexpected conversation into our lives which not only blesses us but others as well.
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