March Newsletter

I love reading 2 Corinthians 4:18, which says: “...we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal”.

Recently I found myself meditating on an incredible true story I heard a few years ago. Sometime back in the late 1600’s there was an old farmer who spent most of his life working his fields. He lived in a society which, similar to our own, considered the people who worked as church clergy to be extremely devout individuals committed to “full-time” ministry. I assume the farmer probably considered his occupation to be less spiritually significant and, I assume, showed a great deal of respect towards the town pastor as he’d pass him walking down the street.

One day as the farmer went out to perform his daily routine, a young woman decided to rest on a rock down at a neighboring creek. At this time, the young woman resting was plagued with a tremendous amount of anxiety and sadness— to the point that she was contemplating suicide.

Now, although the farmer was probably unaware of her presence, it was his custom to sing hymns as he worked in his field. As the farmer passed by with his ox he, by happenchance, began singing a hymn which meant a great deal to this woman. The words from the hymn touched her to her core and is what she attributes led her up from that creek, abandoning her suicidal intentions.

Why do you think this might be a big deal? Well, it turns out this woman went on to give birth to two men named Charles and John Wesley. For those who aren’t familiar with the names off hand, just spend 2 minutes on Google and you’ll quickly see that these guys aren’t your average Joe. Both men had a tremendous impact on history and were partly responsible for a remarkable time period known as the Great Awakening.

My point is simply this; God’s children usually have no idea what He is using them for. We cannot and will not see his big picture until we enter into eternity because these things are UNSEEN. Think about it: this old man who went to his grave thinking he was a simple “peasant farmer” led a woman out of suicide because of his faithful obedience, which resulted in one of the most powerful evangelistic encounters known throughout church history. The craziest part about it is the fact that he never had a clue!

Nicole and I really enjoy watching a Tuesday night TV show on ABC called “What Would You Do”. For those of you who have never seen it, the show is pretty much summed up by its name. Each episode consists of about 4-5 staged scenarios designed to capture peoples reactions using hidden cameras. Some of their past scenarios have included: theft, hazing, and racial/gender/religious discrimination. To be honest, although I love the show, I have a difficult time watching it because I inevitably find myself getting emotional (a.k.a crying); which is sadly something I’ve been brained washed into being ashamed of. Recently there was an episode which really messed me up. The pretense behind this staged event was to have a man, dressed up as a rag-tagged homeless person, fall down into a heavily trafficked sidewalk while holding an empty beer can. The results, which were unfortunately predictable, were that people continued to walk right by the man, leaving him sprawled out in the middle of their walkway. Some of the passerby’s even looked down at him with disgust, presumably because of the inconvenience he was causing.

Yet, after about 80 people passed by, there was finally a hero who came to his rescue. Of all the people who could or should have stopped to help, the one who did was astonishing. A shabby looking, frail, elderly black lady hobbling up on a crutch immediately took action. As soon as she reached the man she began calling out for help, with a soft hoarse voice, to people walking by. She said over and over again, “excuse me, could you please call 911”. Then after about 20 minutes of failed attempts she decided to reach down, pick up, and throw away the empty beer can laying next to the man, realizing this might be a large reason people lacked sympathy and compassion.

Then finally, after another 30 or so people walked by a woman stopped to call 911. So here comes the really cool part! From there, after 911 has been called, she starts to say to the man, “Billy, hang in there, your gonna be alright”.

SHE GAVE HIM A NAME. She put a name onto the lowly lump of humanity laying on the side walk! Wow, at that point I just started weeping. Afterwards, when it was all over and exposed, the lady simply said, “he’ll be OK”, and then staggered off before answering any questions asked about her heroic response.

Life is very busy, to say the least. For those of you who have read any of our past newsletters you are probably aware of our struggles with finding employment and keeping above float. Well, if the clock was scheduled to ring at 12 O’clock, then it was 11:59 when things finally fell into place. John was recently hired at the Asheville Airport and a local J-crew factory. The jobs are intense, the hours are brutal and the pay is so-so, nevertheless it’s steady work and will give us the opportunity to pay off some debt before our baby girl arrives in May.

Nicole has continued to progress along with a healthy pregnancy and Anna Joy has been moving around a lot lately. We’re both extremely excited to meet her as the date inches closer and, thanks to our incredible parents, her room is almost ready.