It was a busy weekend, starting with an early morning talk I gave on Saturday to a men's breakfast audience at Evangelical Bible Church up on 78th and Fort Streets. It was a very good crowd (30-40 guys) which included young and old, new faces and some a bit more familiar to me: Dr. Robert Smith, Lee and David Ingraham, Dave Bryce, Don Kreihbel, Tom Sommerville, Tom Petersen, Billy Dickson, Kim Palmer, et al. They were an attentive, appreciative group and Kim's custom-made omelettes were fantastic. (No matter so many guys show up!)I had to leave the church right after my talk (I hate to do that) but I had to pick up Claire and dash to Lincoln where we were scheduled to talk at a sidewalk counselor meeting at 10 o'clock. There were several more people there at Bob and Pam McCabe's beautiful home than we were expecting and we had a terrific time in fellowship with the faithful pro-lifers who pray and witness outside the Planned Parenthood abortion mill there. The affiliation for most of these champions has been with the Catholic diocese and with Lincoln Right to Life but they have decided to form a new group, Helpers of God's Precious Infants, in order to help build morale and more effectively promote the ministry.
Claire and I had been invited to speak about our sidewalk counseling experiences, our philosophy, and the methodology we've developed in our nearly 30 years in such work. They then asked us to stick around for lunch and act as a sounding board for some of the ideas they're kicking around about their ministry. It was an important meeting with a lot of stimulating, a lot of sharpening, and a lot of encouraging getting accomplished. We were honored to have been invited to participate.
We didn't get back to Omaha until mid-afternoon, got a few things done at home and then drove over to Steve and Kim Young's lovely home for a delicious lasagna dinner and some very engaging conversation. Steve has been an anchor for us in our cyberspace outreaches and Claire couldn't end the evening without getting a fresh dose of computer advice, but most of the evening was taken up with talk of our respective churches, Bible study, books, work, pro-life issues, friends we have in common, and more. They are such a charming couple and we always find fun and spiritual refreshment in their company.
Saturday wasn't quite over though. I had to spend some time before bed (and early the next morning) rewriting my notes for Sunday's sermon at Faith Bible Church. My "raw study" for a sermon (reading the text and surrounding context, thinking about it from different angles, praying, using my own reference books and those from Grace University library, writing out many pages of notes and questions, etc.) comes earlier in the week. In fact, that "raw study" often occurs weeks ahead of the actual sermon. But getting down to writing the outline and making refined drafts of the sermon (I do 2 or 3 before taking it to the pulpit) occurs just a day or two before I preach it.
Yesterday's sermon dealt with Chapter 11 of Acts. Great stuff. We're working to get more of the Faith Bible Church sermons up on the web over at Exposition 101 so please check back later this week.
After church, we were taken to dinner by Roger and Lucille Engbrecht who were in from Sioux Falls. Roger is the district superintendent of the denomination that Faith Bible Church is associated with and they wanted to spend some time with us. It was a great lunch and very pleasant conversation, dwelling alternately on our histories, our ministries and a lot about the Engbrecht's love for the four adopted children they raised. And that love just keeps flowing -- to their kids, their kids' spouses and, at last count, 9 grandchildren.
From the Old Market, our next stop of the weekend was my Mom's apartment over at Immanuel Courtyard, the assisted living complex we are so deeply appreciative of. We got there about two and had just settled in to watch the end of Gigi on one of the old movie channels when Ann Marie, the activities director, called with a reminder that Clem and Shirley Pokorski were going to be downstairs for a Karaoke sing-along. Mom surprised us by saying she would go if we wanted to go. We didn't really but, to get Mom out of her place and into some socializing, we acted like we did...and so off we went.
Had we known what we were in for, we wouldn't have hesitated a second because the event was a smash hit for everyone, including Claire and I who were really touched at how grateful, how enthused and how fun it was for the Courtyard residents. Clem, an older gentleman, was at the mike but his larger purpose was to get the residents to sing along with the lyrics running along the big screen TV. And sing they did! Clem's got a pretty good voice and is entertaining in his own right, but it was the way that the folks sang along with songs they knew from entertainers like Jim Reeves, Englebert Humperdinck, Hank Williams, Randy Strait and Elvis that was the real success of the event.
It was a most heartwarming, lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And it was a great example of how profound an impact can be made in people's lives with the simplest means. A few songs, some kind words, a little humor, and a servant's attitude made a world of difference in many lives yesterday. Our deepest thanks to the Pokorskis, to Ann Marie and to the Immanuel Courtyard residents for letting us share in those special moments.
By evening we were at home, resting up a bit and thinking ahead to some big jobs ahead of us for this week. But we were still able to fit in some time to do a few things around the house, to watch a recording of an old "Murder, She Wrote" episode and to talk a bit about the experiences of the weekend and all of the dear friends who made it a special one for us. To you all, thanks a million.
