My First Weekend

May 30

I knock on the door of the family I will be living with over the summer.  The daughter answers the door.  The family has three girls!  I tell the girls, “I have two younger sisters.”  I immediately connect with the youngest daughter, she is close to my little sisters age, and she plays violin too.  “We’ll have to play our violins together sometime”,  I say.

I move in and get settled.  I meet the Pastor, and I am excited.  He is going to be a great person to work with, evangelistic minded.  I visit with the Pastors wife, she is a sweet lady.  They are both very warm and welcoming.

The area is beautiful.  From outside the windows of the house there are mountains.  Behind those mountains are the Smoky Mountains.  I go to bed with a full heart, I’m so thankful, I feel at home already.  And I wonder how God blessed me with such a wonderful opportunity to serve Him!

May 31

The next morning is my first Sabbath at the church I’m going to be working with over the summer.  The road to the church is a little windy road, going under shady trees, up rolling slopes.  I drive past a slope that has fresh hay bales, and behind them I see the mountains in the distance.  Then there are cornfields, and countryside, which reminds me of where I grew up - only this is so much better because it’s not all flat there’s mountains!  I arrive at the church, and the church is so cute!  It’s a little brown wooden church outside of town.  Behind it sits a log cabin type building which is their school.  The people are so sweet.  I try to remember everyone’s name, but it’s hard!  One of the sweet older members says, “Just remember, we only have one name to remember-yours-but you have all of our names to remember!”

It’s during the morning church service that my joy and appreciation really came over me.  The man praying prays for their church that they can be a light to the community, he prays for the Holy Spirit.  The sincerity of the prayer, and the way he worded it really touched my heart, and at that moment I realize how truly blessed I am to be here!

As I reflected upon my gratitude, the words of two different women’s prayers in the Bible, seemed to be the only words I could use to fully express the depth of my emotions, my gratitude to God:

“And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.  There is none holy as the Lord:  for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”  (1 Samuel 2:1-2)

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”  (Luke 1:46-47)