Oh my gosh, today has been an adventure so far. We arrived at the church that we were sent to and there were no other people there, so we assumed we had the wrong place and went on to another. While it wasn’t the “New Year’s covenant” service that we had looked forward to (this church does that the 2nd week of the year instead of the first). We all found the service to be refreshing. The sermon was about how a leaf removed from it’s branch can not live more than a few hours… and that’s how it is if we deviate from God. The simple message combined with unaccompanied hymns and a cool breeze that would sweep through the open windows made for a peaceful experience. There was a very small number of people in attendance and the church was so thankful for each that they thanked them personally during the service. In thanking our group for coming, they said that they hadn’t expected us, but “when a blessing is offered… you accept it”. They also said that they would pray that the kids we work with this week would learn well from us… and that we would also learn from them. I think we will!!
After church, our driver told us that the first church we had gone to WAS actually where we were supposed to be, we were just early… so we decided to go back & enjoy that service too. We walked in late, but were greeted so warmly. A 6 year old boy ran over to Meredith and hugged her right away. He was so enamored by her that he later came back & sat by her for the rest of the service… when we left, he chased after our car to give her flowers!!
Diane was completely taken by an enormous tree in front of the church. It looked like the leg of a giant elephant and had crevices in the trunk big enough for an adult to walk into. After church she took a video of the tree while describing her sentiment and took a picture of a plaque that one of the local women told her gave the history of the tree. When we expanded the picture of the plaque to read it… it turned out to be a reminder sticker for a car’s timing belt repair. We still don’t know if the lady was pranking her… or if she was telling her that they HOPED to get a plaque… not that there was one. When we were chatting over dinner, Miss June asked her if the tree smelled good. We all had a big laugh when it turned out that the locals use the crevice in the tree trunk as a urinal!!
We sat at the table for a while after dinner and talked. We re-capped the day, shared stories of our kids & families, and laughed at more jokes from the reverend. Our favorite so far was when he told us of the mentally ill people he worked with in Minnesota… he had assessed that they were mentally ill based on the fact that they liked ice fishing! This guy certainly has a good sense of humor… and everyone that we’ve met sure likes warmth and sunshine!