Things you don't expect in Ministry

Yesterday, Paul and I had plans to attend a conference here in Marshfield about Courageous Parenting. I was up at 5:30 am to get ready and to get the house ready for a showing that would happen while we were at the conference.

As I was standing at the Keurig my phone started ringing at 5:40 am. I thought "who in the world"?  I answered and a very nice voice said "Hi, is Paul there?"  I said in a bit of a shocked tone "He is. May I ask who's calling please?"  The voice said, "This is Travis XXXX and I'm actually calling from the Marshfield Police Department right now."  We have a number of police officers who attend our church, and we are friends with them all so I knew who this was once he said his name. 

I ran up the stairs to wake Paul.  I shook him, gently of course, and said "Paul, Travis XXXX is on the phone and calling from the Police Department."  Paul groggily took my phone and headed to the top of the stairs to sit and talk with Travis. Paul sat at the top of the stairs while I stood at the bottom and watched and waited. I thought maybe someone was in jail etc... 

Marshfield is a lovely town and what you never expect is to be called to the scene of a murder!!!  A young 18 year old was killed by her fiance.  Paul was called to come and sit with the father because he was inconsolable, and the Police Officers had been sitting with him for 4 hours.  They needed some help!  You may read about the event here if you so wish to.

http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/article/20120909/SPJ/309090198/Marshfield-woman-killed-knife-fiance-jailed?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

I am so proud of Paul! He immediately showered and was out the door to minister to the father of this young woman.  The father is living at a boarding house as he awaited for a home to become available for him to move into.  When Paul arrived, he was told the father didn't want anything "pushed down his throat". Paul put his Bible in his back pocket and just sat with the man.  This is the "ministry of presence" which we so often undervalue.  Quite often, people in pain just need someone to minsiter to them by being there and just sitting. But far too often, people think they have to talk and "fix" things.  This often leads to hurting the person more.  So FYI, if you are with someone enduring something painful, just sit. Be with them. Offer the ministry of presence.

After a while, the father asked Paul to talk with him.  At this point, the father broke down and shared his heart with Paul. Gut wrenching pain to hear to shoulder for this man.

Paul made it home and we did attend the Parenting Conference. But it was a ROUGH day to say the least. Rough day for both of us. Through the day our exhaustion just came to a breaking point. I was very upset about the conference, feeling that the main speakers were just giving me a list of things to do that I could never do as a parent. And as the day wore on, I became more and more sick with a cold virus.  Paul was done. This season has been rough. It has been crisis after crisis. Marriages exploding, people making poor choice on and on it has gone.

But can I tell you how God met us and worked His Divine plan in the middle of this glorious mess!  We arrived home from the conference.  A wonderful family had taken our kids for the day.  When they came home with our kids they brought us homemade chicken noodle soup and homemade bread. It was delicious.  How a simple meal ministers is amazing.   The kids came home with art projects and a HUGE batch of homemade play-doh. They had played with 4 day old kittens. Watched the pigs and cows and even collected eggs from the chicken coop.Oh and I can't forget the HUGE tree swing that Beth just adored. This family lives on a farm about 30 minutes from Marshfield.  To bless us even more they drove in and picked the kids up and drove them back in at the end of the day.

Late in the evening, Paul woke me and he was crying. He told me that after the conference yesterday two men from our church, who volunteer at this boarding house, made a meal and took it over to all the residents there.  As they were leaving the father arrived and they were able to minister to him as well.  He shared with them how encouraging it was to have Paul there with him.  And one of these men is picking the father up to come to services today!!!!!!!!!! Paul was in tears because these men saw his exhaustion and heaviness. They picked up this mantle of ministry,without being asked, and have offered this father Jesus, the only One who is capable of healing this broken heart.

Rough but AMAZING day!