Reconnecting

I’m heading out the door here shortly. I got the chance for overtime and I consider it quite a blessing so I’m going to take it. I wasn’t sure if Nelson would mind—it seems we get so little time together these days. He was excited for the monetary blessing as well so I felt better about my decision. There could even be an offer for tomorrow. I’ll have to think that one over.

A couple weeks ago I called a nearby pastor to ask a few questions about the situation and frustration I was having regarding the pastor of that church who wasn’t willing to “put his congregation at risk” by letting me attend that church. You might recall this man also pulled some “stuff” on Nelson’s boss. It just made my heart ache to see the boss in such emotional pain. I pretty much knew the answers I would get, but still needed to hear them.

All that to say…The pastor I called was a friend of ours in college. His wife was one of my roommates. Vicky was completely responsible for making my wedding reception happen. It would have been a total fiasco if she hadn’t just stepped in and helped. She was such a blessing to me. We kept contact with them until about ’83 when we moved to Wisconsin and they were in Pennsylvania.

When we moved to where we live in Ashland I realized that we were going to be neighbors so to speak as they live in a very nearby town. I called one time but must have caught Vicky at a very stressful moment. I invited her to a Home and Garden Party last fall but their son was very ill and she couldn’t come. I wanted to connect with her, but my shame level made me begin to wonder if she perhaps didn’t want to connect because she knew about my crime. (I’ll have a little paranoia with that shame, please.)

When I called and talked to Lester about my concerns I shared briefly about my crime and my situation with not being allowed to go to church. Humbling to say the least. At the end of the conversation Lester said we should get together for dinner. I wondered if it was just a polite suggestion, and so it was a pleasant surprise when he called back this week and offered to take Nelson and I out for dinner last night.

So last night we met Vicky and Lester for dinner at a local steakhouse. The meal was very good. (I had a grilled Cajun Salmon Salad with cilantro ranch dressing—talk about yummers!) The conversation was amazing. We were there for a couple hours catching up, sharing our journey of the last few years, and receiving boatloads of support and encouragement from these dear friends. It was a sweet time of reconnection.

Towards the end our time together, Lester shared about the vision for his congregation. He and Vicky shared examples of how they’ve been reaching out to the “de-churched” and seeing people who have had horrible struggles come to a new experience of grace. Lester shared that he would be more than willing to meet with my PO and work through the process to enable me, us, to attend their church. It was a very tempting and sweet offer, one that Nelson and I are going to both pray about.

Goodness, I better scoot. Thanks for catching my “hour” error in my last post. Y’all got what I meant. I guess I was just too tired to explain myself very well. Anyway, don’t forget to “spring forward.” Have a sweet sort of Saturday!