Living Out Our Faith - Out Loud!!!!!

Thought you would enjoy Sandyism that happened this afternoon. It is sooooo me and what can I say??? It becomes more clearer as days go by that God keeps me on the earth to crack people up and prove to them that something truly wonderfully big and creative created this silly loosey goosey child of God and set her feet upon this planet for His delight! Sadly, you who know me get to live it out - out loud with me!

Here is the story - truly this is how it happened!

Our church was are having the Seder meal tonight and Steve and I were hosting overnight the representative from Jews for Jesus. I was not expecting him until this evening after the service or at the earliest late this afternoon. Imagine my surprise when Steve and I returned from lunch and there he was wanting to go home and take a nap...at our house!

Not a problem...I can be a willow. (you know...bend...bend...) As we were in front of Cheryl's office (parish secretary) to leave our new friend from JFJ asked me if I had cereal. I thought that to be a strange question but said answered, "yes, we do. " He said he had not had lunch and was hungry. I felt so badly for him that I quickly responded, "Oh, no worries, I'll make you a sandwich" which he jumped at with both Jewish feet!

So...I am in my car with him in my rear view mirror and I am thinking, "Oh, Lord!" We had not planned food for this meal and all I have is ham leftover from the Friday night "wine and cheese." "Oh Lord, will and can he eat ham????" I grumbled, well, probably not, dang!!! So, I stepped my prayer up a level and said, "Oh, Lord, can we please have turkey at home???"

We arrived home and I showed him upstairs so he could get settled in and as it was to be...hunger overrode tiredness! Dang!!!! Dang!!! Dang!!! He found me in the kitchen (thankfully I was praying silently - "Lord, please, please, please let there be turkey." He asked if we had wheat bread, excited to have a yes, praise the Lord, I proudly said, "We do!!!!!! "

Did I mention that I was fussing at myself on the way home in the car because I was being cranky about the sandwich meat?? I had to remind myself, "Self - shame, shame on you! Okay, time out! Go sit in a corner because you are acting like Martha! You know, Sandy Ferguson (now I'm mad at myself) when you entertain him you are entertaining Jesus." To that the Sandy Ferguson who has been sent to the corner responded, "Well, does Jesus eat ham? I'm just asking!!!"

So I open the refrigerator and found a miracle!!! We had turkey and it was still in date!!!! So, he had turkey and cheese and mustard...are they supposed to eat meat and dairy together??? I'm confused about that...but he loved the sandwich, freshly washed grapes and pretzel chips. Life is good...or so I thought!

When our guest woke up from his nap he came downstairs and asked if we had an exercise equipment he could use. I said that we had a treadmill upstairs and he was welcome to use that. He said that he had put on a lot of weight with all the Mexican food since he had been in TX. So I hear the treadmill going and honestly it sounded like he was struggling with every step and every breath. He was on his cell phone and was having difficulty breathing and talking. Thankfully the treadmill event ended.

It was eerily quiet upstairs when Steve said that it was time for he and I to head back to the church. I asked Steve if he would go upstairs to let our guest know that we were leaving and if he knew the way back to the church. Steve said no problem and went upstairs. I hear Steve call, our guest's name? No answer. Steve calls out again his name...Still no answer. By now I am in full panic mode. "Oh Lord, please don't let us have killed our Jews for Jesus on our treadmill!Thankfully he finally answered. No wonder Martha was so cranky! Entertaining Jesus is stressful business!!!!!

The evening was perfect. He did an awesome job presenting the Gospel and explaining to each one of us with holy and anointed words from Jesus as to how we could see Jesus in the Passover. It was moving evening and there was many moments that we knew that God was present and we felt His Holy Spirit speaking through this sweet and tender man.

Would like to say that the drama had ended at lunch/treadmill event...but ohhhhh....noooooo. We finally get to bed after much visiting and sharing after 11 p.m This part could be borrowed from "Twas the night before Christmas"...because there suddenly in the night arose such a clatter!!!" At 4:00ish a.m. Maggie (our dog) and I were awakened by a crash! My first thoughts were, "Oh Lord, now we really killed the Jews for Jesus man! He has fallen down our stairs!"

I sent Steve into the front to see if there was indeed a body at the foot of the stairs. Thankfully there wasn't. Steve looked around (inside) and pronounced the, "All"s clear" announcement and went soundly back to bed and sleep.

Now, Maggie and I are not in full agreement with the "All's clear" announcement as both of us clearly heard SOMETHING! So, Maggie and I emerge carefully from the bedroom to face whatever calamity has befallen us inside the house. We looked carefully through the front of the house and found nothing. No sounds from upstairs and the front lawn was fine.

At that point Maggie determines that she needs to potty in the back yard so I flip on the light on the back porch and open the backdoor. Strangely there was no back yard in sight. In fact, there was nothing insight but the our awning which was precariously draped and wrapped hap-hazard on the patio. Maggie took one look at that and you could almost hear her saying, "Uh, no! not doing it there!" So, we retreated to the clear and safe front yard.

Returning to the bedroom, I awoke a soundly sleeping husband to inform him that "Houston does have a problem." He quickly arose (just like in the "Night before Christmas") and saw what was the matter!

The picture above reflects the awning in the daylight hours. Thankfully our overnight guest slept through the rainstorm and the awning and...does this have a familiar ring like sleeping through a storm in a boat...just asking...

There is always a chance to see Jesus in our circumstances if we stop panicking and be still. The trouble with us is that we are so busy being "Henny Penny" that we don't stop. Would that we like our soundly sleeping overnight guest and sleep through the storm or better yet stand up and say, "Peace, be still!"

It is a choice we make to live our faith out loud. What do we say when we are shouting when calamity crashes in uninvited into our world? "Woe is us??" Are do we loudly proclaim, "Our God Reigns!" Let us be still and know that He is God! His peace is like no other.

Live your faith - but live it out loud - so the world will see...Our God truly reigns!!!