It's Messy...

Glazing a glass piece is messy...very messy! But it's an essential step in the creation of stained glass art.

I'm thinking of this today because today has been... well, messy. Not that we've spilled a bunch of stuff, but...


A couple of days ago, a woman (not from the congregation) stopped by and asked if the church was available for a funeral on Wednesday or Thursday. Brad said yes, the church was available, and requested that they let us know which day it would be. This has happened before; some churches here in town just aren't big enough for a funeral.

We were still wondering which day it would be this afternoon (Tuesday), so Brad called a few of our church members, asking if they knew the family of someone who died recently. Finally, someone must have gotten hold of the family because a family member called my husband.

In that phone call, early this evening, it became clear that not only was the funeral tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at 9 AM, but that my husband was supposed to be conducting the service! Remember, Brad has only been a pastor for 6 weeks...This will be his first funeral; and he has all of 14 hours to prepare!

It would've been easy to say "No way!" to this funeral. It would've been easy to shut the door on these people and maintain our family time this evening. It would've been much easier to avoid the whole situation and have Daddy read with our daughter after supper like normal. I certainly would've preferred not to put together an order of service tonight instead of working on my new website for A Glimpse of Grace.

But...

But...

God called us to this task. To this service. Here. With these people. Messy as it is. Mistakes and miscommunications and all...messy. 

And Good. Because God is here in this. In all of this. And I pray that He will comfort the family and friends of the deceased... and that He will work powerfully through my husband, providing His peace along the way.