faithfulness
the man who is in charge of the meals at 12-step (the husband of the woman who brought me there, actually) is a wonderful man; so, so kind, and has a servant's heart. he's quiet and humble and friendly, but i believe people taking notice of him makes him uncomfortable. he pretty much is always the one to pray before the meal, and does so gladly, but being the one to do the teaching before the meal is not his cup of tea.
about a year ago, however, they got him to do his first one. he was shaking, and even though he was just reading it off a paper, his speech was halting and stumbling. clearly this was a huge stretch for him. but he did it, and got a standing ovation, mostly, i think, for persevering.
it continues to be hard for him. he's still nervous and he still stumbles on his words. but every time he goes up there i'm excited that he's going up there; not because what he says hits me, but because the fact that he does hits me. it's beautiful to see that faithfulness in spite of how hard it is for him.
tonight, though, he had forgotten he was supposed to speak. they had been out of town and he didn't realize the date. the pastor's wife called him and asked if he was all ready to go, and he had to admit that he had nothing ready, as he didn't remember that he was speaking tonight. he asked if she could fill in and she said she had nothing either. finally she said she would do it, and got to it after they hung up. but as she was sitting there thinking, yet unable to think of anything to say, he called her back and said, 'no. i'll do it.'
as she was telling all this as she introduced him tonight, i got tears in my eyes. knowing how hard it is for him to do this in general, but especially how hard it must be to be asked to whip something up last minute, and knowing he could have gotten out of it, and then seeing him up there doing it - it was just so beautiful. such a wonderful example of faithfulness and obedience, despite how it feels.
i've wanted to post about him before, but never got around to it. but this time, with the firm 'i'll do it,' with him going out and seeking to do something that is hard for him, it was time.
about a year ago, however, they got him to do his first one. he was shaking, and even though he was just reading it off a paper, his speech was halting and stumbling. clearly this was a huge stretch for him. but he did it, and got a standing ovation, mostly, i think, for persevering.
it continues to be hard for him. he's still nervous and he still stumbles on his words. but every time he goes up there i'm excited that he's going up there; not because what he says hits me, but because the fact that he does hits me. it's beautiful to see that faithfulness in spite of how hard it is for him.
tonight, though, he had forgotten he was supposed to speak. they had been out of town and he didn't realize the date. the pastor's wife called him and asked if he was all ready to go, and he had to admit that he had nothing ready, as he didn't remember that he was speaking tonight. he asked if she could fill in and she said she had nothing either. finally she said she would do it, and got to it after they hung up. but as she was sitting there thinking, yet unable to think of anything to say, he called her back and said, 'no. i'll do it.'
as she was telling all this as she introduced him tonight, i got tears in my eyes. knowing how hard it is for him to do this in general, but especially how hard it must be to be asked to whip something up last minute, and knowing he could have gotten out of it, and then seeing him up there doing it - it was just so beautiful. such a wonderful example of faithfulness and obedience, despite how it feels.
i've wanted to post about him before, but never got around to it. but this time, with the firm 'i'll do it,' with him going out and seeking to do something that is hard for him, it was time.
posted by melilotnfosco | 10:13 PM
3 Comments:
That is awesome. I'll agree to do things more often than I'd like (because I'd like to never ;) ), but still not often, and if someone else steps in, I'm perfectly OK with that. Well, partly. There's also another part of me that wants to do it sometimes. But I think some of that is pride.
But yes, I think it would move me like it did you, because we can really relate to that. I think some people don't understand why it's so hard for us (I don't even know that I understand; I just know it is). Sometimes seemingly "small" things can be big steps of faith.
(And on that note, please pray for me? Something coming up, as I spoke with you about before.)
you got it :)
*like*
(hobbitsister)
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