An interesting thing happened today. Very interesting. In fact, to us it was quite unbelievable. Well, not really, because we know who's behind all this. God is funny how he arranges things. We were definitely "set up."
We were going to attend our friend's church for our first Sunday here, but a miscommunication arose. That, and the fact I'm slow moving in the morning made for a change in our plans. Since we were not going to make our friend's church in time, we decided to check out one we found on the net. So I called my friend and asked if she wanted to skip her church since I wouldn't be able to get dressed in time for hers and she said yes. This church had a later service.
So we picked her up. We walk into this, what turned out to be, brand new building 10 minutes or so from our new home. This just so happened to be the congregation's first Sunday in their new building. Interesting I thought. Our first Sunday in our new home and their's as well. We noticed the congregation was tiny, only about 36 or so people. My husband counted about 80 chairs set up. These Southerners were very friendly to us Northerners, many of them coming up to us even before we opened the door.
We sit down. My friend opens the bulletin and nudges me. She points to the name Clyde Billingsly who is the featured speaker wondering if he's related to the singer I met last year, got to know a little bit and collected his CD's. "I don't know" I said. "Maybe I'll ask later after the service."
I noticed there was no mention of a Pastor in this bulletin. No Pastor? "You don't suppose? Naaahhhhh this is way too soon" I whispered to my friend. So we enjoyed the sermon. To us the service and sermon were very short. It was over less than an hour from when it started. My husband would have just left if I didn't decide to go up to see if Clyde was related to Charles. I just had to ask I told my husband, for the heck of it. It would bug me to no end if I didn't. So I did. "Yes," he said. "Charles is our son."
Wow. So I went on to tell him that my son attends Liberty (this speaker is involved in the DLP at Liberty) and how we met his son a couple of times and seen him perform many times. I also told him how we moved to FL unsure what God is doing with us but knowing we are being led. After talking with him a bit, he rushes me over to meet his wife, introduces me and we get to talking. As we're talking my husband is talking to the worship leader who has the job of filling the pulpit. Clyde's wife (Charles' mother) and I have a nice conversation that ended with us exchanging phone numbers. She lives within a mile or two of us we found out later.
This is just too cool. Not only meeting them and all but they are going on the cruise with us in January. So my husband comes over after finishing speaking with the worship leader and I introduce him to Charle's mom. The look on his face was priceless. He mouth dropped open. "Charles' mom?" "Yep." I guess he just figured the name was coincidental when he saw Clyde's name in the bulletin.
In the meantime, my husband was asked by the worship leader to fill the pulpit for Christmas and New Years. Unbelievable. We weren't even supposed to be in this church. A little miscommunication and a lazy me (not an a.m person) was directed by a knowing God who used these things to put us in the right place at the right time.
When we left our church back home, one of the reasons given by my husband was he felt he wasn't the man to bring our church through a much needed building process. We had grown expedientially and we were/are squeezing ourselves right out of the rented building that we have been in for the last five years. He had no desire to get involved in this type of tremendous doing. He even felt that maybe our lack of obtaining land had something to do with his lack of desire in going thru with such a huge responsibility. He felt that maybe he was in the way of what was to come. So we respectfully gave our resignation and in the space of about two months are now in Florida having a strong feeling we needed to be here.
So today, we walk into a church with a brand new building after already going through the building process and they have NO PASTOR. Unbelieveable. Of all the churches in Florida (two on every corner practiacally) we end up in one with NO Pastor. Unbelievable (if it weren't for God).
We have no idea what this means yet. He has a fulltime job with a CPA firm. One which he will honor. But he will most likely accept their invitiation to guest preach these two holidays and just see what the Lord has in mind here.
With God all things are possible. It's not really unbelievable.