Yesterday was Thursday, pool day. I did not want to go swimming, but I feel there's some sort of unspoken commitment to the kids and our schedule. So we went, and as we were suiting up, a lady was getting out of the pool because her husband had called and told her to come home right away because it was sleeting. "Oh, these pathetic Kentucky people," I thought. It was barely coming down when I came in. So an hour and a half later we were the last ones to leave the pool. As the lifeguards stood at the door and oohed and awed over the sleet, I definitely had a little smirk on my face. Driving through town was ridiculously normal. Then I left town and embarked upon the first leg of our 9 mile country drive. I'll just say that the salt trucks had not been there and I was no longer cocky. I was scared! Slipping and sliding at 30 miles an hour on the straight flat stretches! I was too chicken to make it home so I pulled off at my Pastor's house after just a few miles.
I called my husband to see if he could come get me (he couldn't) so I planned on enjoying a visit. The kids and I walked up to the porch to see the window open and hear happy music pouring out. We walked into a room full of men with accents and my pastor's wife, D---, greeting us with her biggest smile and "I'm so happy you're here!"
D--- explained that she had been substitute teaching that day, and they were having an assembly with jazz musicians from Argentina performing. School was cancelled at 10:30 and she jumped on the opportunity to have the four travelling musicians to her house for lunch. When I arrived she had been home for little more than an hour and had already prepared stewed chicken and noodles, sides of potatoes and corn from her garden, two kushaw pies and another pie she had frozen. What a welcome sight! During this time the musicians had been jamming with the boys and Brother J--- in the music room. (Brother J--- teaches his son at Pastor's home so he can also tutor their teenagers.) Our beloved A--- was soon home from college and doting on the kids and we all (14 total) sat down to a fast, frugal, delicious meal.
I was soaking in the lessons! First, D---'s generous hospitality and resourcefulness. I definitely took notes on how she prepared a main dish for 20 people with only $6 or $8 and a low level of stress. The biggest lesson was witnessing the witnessing. Pastor and D--- easily took the conversation to spiritual things, and shared the gospel. Brother J--- added his testimony, which I had never completely heard. They talked about Catholicism, nearly as big in our county as it is in Argentina, and respectfully explained its shortcomings. If skeptical me was a first time guest there, I may have thought, "Man, they're laying it on thick. Did they just invite us over to proselytize us?" That is definitely one reason I am bad at witnessing straightforwardly now. But I know Pastor and D---, and that is just who they are and they really love people and really live like they treasure each day and truly believe the Bible. (Another topic - I often think I don't truly live like I believe, or else I would be so much more like that. I am growing, though.) I am so blessed to have witnessed this time of living out Christianity, and making things happen in order to reach the world for Christ!
After lunch we all went to the big living/music room to hear Pastor's family play and sing, and then the Argentinians play. One was playing the accordion, which I've never heard and seen up close! This group travels all over, mostly across Europe, and here we were enjoying a private performance! When they prepared to leave, I overheard one man thanking D---, saying he knew it wasn't a coincidence and giving praise to God, and telling her if she ever comes to Argentina, his home is her home.
We all ended up enjoying a spur of the moment youth group party shortly after the first guests left. What a blur of activity! With all these people coming and going, you're probably wondering why I couldn't just go home. Well, I was too scared. I realized the salt trucks had come by and it had warmed up some, but I felt like we weren't too much in the way and we could just wait until my husband got us at 5:00. Plus, we were driving further into the country, not back into town. My husband made me drive home anyway, and it was fine by then. Still, I enjoyed a couple serendipitous parties!
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1 comment:
That's an amazing story! It sounded like so much fun. Not only was it God's plan for the musicians to share Pastor and Dominic's home that afternoon, but it was His plan for your family, too!
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