Singing Hills RV Park, Cave City, Kentucky
The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor. ~ Proverbs 15:33
We had a rain day today, and absolutely nothing happened worth noting, so I’ll leave you with another excerpt from my God Moments journal. The last time I did that was back in August! Can you believe it? We must’ve been really busy people for the past 2 ½ months. We ended with my having the privilege to witness a co-worker being born again. This part speaks of some not-so-exciting, but nevertheless personal growth experiences (on my part) with co-workers from the same place.
Then there’s the relief vet I meant who is responsible for a lot of personal spiritual growth for me. So far, she’s not a believer, which grieves me immensely. She shall remain nameless for purposes of the blog because we’re still friends. It’s not that I’d ever say anything bad about her; how could I when she’s the one responsible for making me confront why I believe what I believe? By the way, that’s something every Christian should get a handle on.
As I said, she was a relief vet (like a temp who comes in when the regular vet needs time off) for our office for years, and as of this writing (September, 2008, and now for this blog post) we are still friends and meet for lunch every couple of months (now whenever I’m home). She began asking questions of me when she and her fiancé began pre-marital counseling. She came into work one day mad as a hornet claiming the Lutheran minister told them that they HAD to have children. That God required it. And she wanted to know if it was true. (apparently, they didn’t want to have children 😊) She told me that I was the only one she could think of to ask. I told her I didn’t believe God required it, but that I would look into it to make sure and get back to her the next week. (at the time, she was coming in every Thursday)
She must have liked my response (no requirements) because this began our Q&A session every Thursday. Every week she ‘interrogated’ me about some subject and what the Bible had to say about it. She always had great questions! I believe it was God’s way of reaching out to her, as well as really growing me and cementing my faith. I was forced to discover why I believe what I do and have scripture to back me up.
During this time, my boss hired a woman from our church to be his office manager. Her name was Kim M. We had no idea he was even considering an office manager, so we were quite surprised when he made the announcement! But even more surprising was the fact that the church had just assigned me to her to do a one-on-one discipleship program! We decided the easiest and best thing to do was meet weekly at the office during lunch, and low and behold, the best day for us was the day the relief vet worked! She always listened and then after a few weeks wanted to join us! She was more faithful to her homework than Kim was! The relief vet was raised Catholic and believes you get to Heaven based on your life on earth – whether or not you were a “good” person. But one day, she told me she was starting to see where that may not be the case.
Sometime after that, the relief vet came to my home one day for study. She spent 3 hours in my living room, and in the end, with tears running down her cheeks, she told me that she wasn’t ready to make a decision for Christ. After she left, I was devastated. I was sure I must have done something wrong! I’d never tried to lead someone to Christ before, but if I did it right, how could she sit there crying and yet deny Him??? I probably should tell you, this happened several years before Sonia. Sonia wasn’t even working at Lakeview when we were meeting, which is why Doc Ron thought he should have an office manager in the first place. Anyway, I digress.
So the relief vet left my house still crying, and I spent the rest of the day (and for days after) beating myself up. Then one day I got a card from her thanking me for my time and effort and stating that she knew it was all her decision. Whew! I cannot tell you how that card was an answered prayer for me! She stopped the questions shortly after that and we ended Bible study. Years later, my heart is still burdened for her. How long will her heart stay hard? How many chances will God give her? Only He knows the final outcome. My job is to continue planting seeds and watering. Only God can provide the harvest.
Let’s get back to Kim M. for a minute. We actually ended up ending our study time prematurely. She wanted to know why God made sex so good, if she wasn’t allowed to enjoy it. (based on the fact that she was a single mom and God reserves it for marriage) We did an entire study on it, full of verses. But she didn’t like it at all. Then, sometime after that, we came across the verse in Corinthians that talks about your works being shown as gold, silver, wood, straw, etc. and that they will be tested by fire. That regardless, you would still get into heaven, but only as one escaping thru flames. Well, that did it for her; as long as she could get in the door to heaven, she was okay with living in sin. She went off the deep end and started hitting the bars and taking strange men home with her – into a home with small children! I felt so helpless and once again blamed myself for a while. I don’t know whatever became of Kim, other than I heard she got married eventually to a not-so-nice man.
At some point during my 10 years at Lakeview, Karen V. came into my life. Karen was a client, who became an employee for a short time. We got along fine, but I don’t recall ever talking to her about religious things. She wasn’t there when the Bible study time was going on. I say this to give you at least a bit of background. Our time at Lakeview was uneventful – at least from my side. Anyway, after only working there a few months, she quit (like so many others!) But she continued to remain a client. One day, she came in and asked me what church I went to. I didn’t even know she knew I went to church! She said she thought any place I went was probably a good church. Wow! That sure shocked me! And humbled me. It sort of hit home that people really are watching you even when you don’t know it. So Karen started attending Springfield Baptist and eventually, not only did she become very active, but we also started studying together. (So when exactly did I become a teacher??? ) We also remain friends to this day. In fact, she almost accepted a position job-sharing with me at my current job. And although she no longer goes to Springfield, she is extremely active in the church she does attend – which, by the way, happens to be Blaine’s mom & dad’s former church, Manchester Trinity. It’s now named Grace Bible Church.
On a funny note, at one point during our friendship, Karen had the notion to purchase the old Young’s Restaurant on Manchester Road in Akron, Ohio near where we lived. She wanted to manage, and have me cook (just when did I become a chef??). Anyway, the moment she asked me, I said a very emphatic “No!” To which she replied, “You didn’t even pray about it!” “And I don’t have to. No.” And that’s how I burst her dream bubble.
(FYI – as of this blog post, I haven’t had contact with Karen for quite a few years – – nothing to do with the restaurant business. 😊 She too, sort of went off the deep end and we eventually lost touch.)