Sunday night we drove nearly 2 hours to get to a meeting in southern Mississippi. We are northerners, and so needless to say we do not know this area. At all. We have been here many times for weeks at a time, but suffice it to say, we still don't KNOW the area.
We had a meeting at Pineview Baptist Church. And we showed up at Pineview Baptist Church... but in Laurel... Not in Lucedale. You can see the ease with which the mistake was made.
We arrived a little early in order to set up our display and meet the pastor. Dan found him and stepped into his office. The pastor was kind, and asked what could he do for us, and Dan said we were the missionaries he had scheduled to present the ministry. Obviously the pastor looked a little puzzled, and when everyone was on the same page we realized we were in the wrong church and the wrong town!
Well our honest mistakes are really just God's appointments that we weren't aware of! The preacher was such a gracious man and he gave Dan the whole service to tell his people about our mission and call. it was a great evening and the people were glad for our mistake! They said they would like to get us back when we were all expecting it! :)
Dan then talked with the pastor from the church we were expected at. All kinds of things could have happened there! As only the Lord can do... he had a message that was only able to be half completed in the morning service, and this allowed him to finish it that evening! Whew!
In honor of that event a friend sent us an email. I laughed out loud, and thought it is appropriate to attach it here. Enjoy!
"As a bagpiper, I play many gigs.
Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside serviceFor a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to beAt a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back country.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical Male, I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.
I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.
The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.
And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.
When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.
As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."
Apparently I'm still lost. It's a man thing."
