MIDWEEK MESSAGE #55
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #55. It’s always nice to have you take the time to read and (hopefully) feel comfortable to interact if you want to. I do hope this week has been a good one for you and you have been able to enjoy the sunshine.
I want to give a shout out to the Worship Team from this past Sunday and this coming Sunday. Dick and Vicki Hogan, our Worship Team leaders, are on a well-earned vacation visiting some of the HGTV haunts and family. One is in Mississippi, and the other is in Waco, TX (Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Farms). Although I’m not very handy I do like watching Fixer Upper. Jo says I remind her of Chip. Hmmmmm. I guess whether that is a good thing would be determined by what you think of him. I think he is witty, funny, engaging, able to take ribbing, and a whole slew of other good qualities. 🙂 Anyway, thanks to the Worship Team for leading our worship. I’ll not mention names because they would want it that way.
I want to give you a giant thanks for your prayers for Mike and Ryan Laws. Mike, Trisha and Brittainy were part of our church fellowship for a very short time after I moved to Sandusky and became the pastor, before Mike took a job with the Dublin police (Ohio not Ireland). Ryan came along after they left (he is 15) and everything was going well when suddenly he just wasn’t feeling well. Long story short, April 21st (last Wednesday) Mike donated his kidney to his son. What a powerful act of love! Mike is home and doing well. Ryan is to come home today (Wednesday) if all goes well. I read a text Mike sent me this past Sunday during prayer time and have put the text and a picture of them on the bulletin board in the hallway. I hope you will stop by and take a look.
Have you ever had one of those “this could have been a very bad thing but it has turned out to be a good thing” events? I had one this past Friday that still blows me away when I think about it. Every year I have my bike serviced by Bicycle Garage Indy in Greenwood. That is where I bought the last two and so I tend to be faithful to where I bought something. This past Friday I took my bike to have two new tires put on it and to have a tune-up so that it is safe and ready for the summer riding season. I had an early appointment with the intention of taking Jo to lunch and hanging around Greenwood for a couple of hours so I could take it home with me when it was done. We were sitting at lunch when the store manager called me with bad news. I thought he was going to say it needed more than tires and a tune-up. Nope. I needed a whole new frame. There was a crack on the inside of the frame down by the rear shifters and derailleur. There would have been no way I would have ever seen that until the frame busted and sent me spiraling or worse. The frame is under warranty but my size is a detriment, as has been COVID. Bike makers are so far behind that if I ordered a bike today, it would not be available until the end of 2022. Fortunately, Trek had some frames available for warranty claims and hopefully, will get it to BGI so they can build me a bike soon.
How could that be good given how much I like to ride? If that frame had failed while coming down a hill; if that frame had failed while on 43 and cars coming up from behind me; if that frame had failed when I was all alone…well, I don’t even want to think about it. Jo says I told her after my last wreck (the one that broke my collarbone, three ribs, and split my helmet in three places) that if I had another wreck I was done. I think I was delusional and under the influence of medicine when she says I said that. 🙂 But the truth is I may very well have been done. I still shudder when I think about it. And I am immensely grateful to God for His watchful eye while I was riding and having me get it to the shop as soon as I did. I have always believed that God does not do evil or make His children suffer. God’s goodness and protection overwhelm me. {Note: I’m sorry honey. I’m not quite ready to retire the bike just yet. And I still think I was not myself when you said I said that}.
Have a great rest of the week. We have had some visitors recently which always perks people up. Have you taken the time to welcome them? Love you all.
Pastor Bill
