I’ve heard worse:
Enthralling audiences across
April 8,
2005
When missionaries would come to my church, I would
suddenly remember that I had important work to do in the nursery. I thought they
were dweebs with bad haircuts who whined about
money.
As my older sister would say, `There you
go.’
The wonder of the principle of sowing and reaping is
that between work and school, I’ve been speaking at churches all over the place
in the last few months. We are scheduled to return to
People have generally been very kind. One old friend,
however, brought his family to hear me in
`I’ve heard worse.’
I have learned one important lesson in public speaking.
When speaking in
This is
To follow a Cowboys coach was as nerve racking as any
speaking I have ever done. Since he was a genuinely nice man with a real heart
for what we are trying to do, it was hard to be anything but be grateful and
hope that people would stay around for what we had to say. People were kind and
generous, but I still wake up and wonder if the evening really
happened.
Brief updates on all of us:
JT was truly enjoying track and excelling at it when his
knee began to bother him. He had to have a cyst removed from his knee, and some
repair work done besides. It was much more painful than he expected, and it has
been discouraging for him. But the wonder of my oldest son is that he finds new
things to occupy his time. He discovered a scholarship that he has applied for
that is unique. If you attend your formal in a duct tape suit, you can win a 5k
scholarship. Because he is on crutches, he didn’t think he would make the
funniest of dates, so he gave himself to this project with a vengeance. He
reports that all wanted to have their picture taken with him, and it was a
bonding night for him with his classmates.
JT has started a new project. We encouraged both the
older boys to come up with a project for
Matthew is running track, and improving every single
day. He got his braces off, and has celebrated by chewing gum in his sleep. His
project is to try to get Happy Meal toys shipped to
Ben and Kate are enjoying swimming lessons and half
price books. They go to a Mother’s Day Out for a morning a week, and come home
with stories about the infamous Kevin, who never obeys. One shudders to wonder
what stories Kevin can tell.
I can tell two stories. One of the best people I know,
and one of best friends I’ve ever had is a man named Jeff Franzwa. He has a fine
family and works hard. If you don’t look deep, you see nothing out of the
ordinary. But if you have been lucky enough to look deep, you will see an
extraordinary man. My distance away helped me see the miracle he
is.
Because I went to
I keep saying it, but there is nothing special about a
missionary. What is special is finding out what He has called you to, and doing
it. Which means there is a special story in all of us that needs to be sought
out, and given a forum. I appreciate that I have one, but I long for the day
when Christians see what the special thing that God has put in all of
us.
I’ve been so grateful for the opportunity to speak
across the country. I spoke in
There were about 15 people who showed up, and they were
kind beyond kind. I shared my current favorite scripture: `For I know the plans
I have for you’ says the Lord. `Plans for good and not for evil, to give you a
future and a hope.’
But what I will never forget is a little girl who came
up to me with a box she had decorated. She told me that she had read the emails
about the hungry kids, and so she had decided to go door to door to collect
pennies for them.
She told me she wanted to give them hope.
Little kids helping little kids is about as good as it
gets.
Your pal
Steve
PS. We are still looking for opportunities to speak, and
we are glad to announce that we will be sharing at our church, Woodland Heights
Baptist Church