Sweet Tomatoes

I found this story at www.ordinaryattempts.org. It is a great website which relates ordinary attempts in our every day lives to present the love of Christ to others.

Red Tomatoes

08.27.2007 /

A sweet lady I know worked at our office for 41 years before she retired, although I have only known her for 17 of those years. She is a strong, vibrant little lady with a lot spunk and curly, silver hair. I always got along well with her, and was secretary of her department for several years before she retired.

When I was notified by another co-worker that she had had a heart attack, I didn’t hesitate to ask where I could go and visit her and my friend arranged with me to go during our lunch to visit her at a local hospital. She was scheduled to have an angioplasty and if that didn’t go well, she would have to have open heart surgery.

We arrived at the hospital where they were so over-crowded that they didn’t have a room for her. They had her in a temporary holding area, and she lay there with IVs and various monitoring lines attached to her. In order to get to her bedside I had to step over about half a dozen electrical cords just to get to her side. Then, I grabbed her hand and asked her how she was doing.

The first thing that I noticed was how scared she was. In all the time I’d known her, I had never really seen any fear, but it was very present on that day. We chatted for a while as she outlined what was coming that afternoon. I finally got up the courage to ask if she would like me to pray with her. As soon as I said it, I was sure that I had done the right thing because she gratefully asked me to do so. I said the best prayer that I could while holding her hand and then wished her well, and that afternoon she came through the angioplasty just fine. She suffered a setback later that week, and I had our prayer group meet twice to pray for her. More people came than have ever come to our prayer group.

A week ago, the door to our offices suddenly opened and in walked a somewhat tired and slightly more feeble familiar face, but a welcome one all the same. She wasn’t quite restored to her former self, but she was certainly better than the last time I had seen her. She stepped forward and offered me a clear plastic bag full of homegrown, beautiful, red tomatoes. As she did so, she explained that it was her way to show her thanks for the prayers and the visit in the hospital. She told me how much she appreciated it.

I hugged her and thanked her over and over for the wonderful gift, and later wondered if it was my imagination or had those really been the sweetest tomatoes that I had ever tasted?

Rookie Youth Pastor

Some of our youth getting ready for the water balloon relay.

This past Saturday was my first official function as the new (part-time) youth pastor at our church. I had planned a Back to School Bash for the Middle/High Schoolers. It went well. We had a good number of youth from the church as well as some of their friends. I enjoyed getting to know the kids a little better. I am looking forward to the rest of the year and getting to build relationships with them.

Day One Of Soccer Season

Jimmy on his first of soccer season this year.

This weekend was the kickoff of Jimmy's soccer season this year. His team had their first game in the Club Directors League. His team defeated the Clearwater Chargers 4-2 and Jimmy scored his first goal of the season.

Miniature Flock

Jimmy having breakfast before his first day of high school.

Drew headed off to his first day as big man on campus.

Wow, what a morning. I just dropped Jimmy off for his first day of high school. It was a little daunting, even to me. So, I am sure Jimmy was a little nervous, although he wouldn't admit it during our conversation on the way. It seems he was born, I blinked, and now he is in high school. Everyone said it would happen and it has. I felt a little bit comforted, that as I drove away a number of his friends came up to him and they began talking together. Friends he has known and grown up with for years. God is good in that way.

Drew is now the big man on campus at his elementary school. He is a fifth grader. Next year he will move off to middle school. He was born, I blinked, and well you know the rest.

The most amazing part of the morning for me was the hour I spent helping Elyshia with her kindergarten class. I have always know that she was a good teacher. I had seen her for brief moments before with some of her kids. But, this morning just blew me away. Her ability to comfort and provide relief to an anxious child (and parents) on their first day is amazing. Her loving and gentle tone and sincere care for each child is evident. What is equally special is that she can correct (or redirect) a child in the same manner. Through her years of teaching there have been many times when she has questioned her vocation. During those times I have been very honest with her, and told her I felt this was where God wanted her. It was never more evident to me than this morning. God has blessed her with many gifts that she uses on a daily basis in her classroom. He has seen fit to give her a wonderful flock to shepherd and she continues to lead them with the love of our savior.

Long Night

Talent acting out scene for a Sleuth style video regarding Inventory Control.

Talent during scene for a Sleuth style video regarding Inventory Control.

It was a long night (3:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.) but we managed to get all the shots needed for 3 of the 9 videos we are producing for W. S. Badcock Corporation. The videos will be used for playback during the upcoming Dealer Meetings which we are producing.

You can check out more images from NFocus' work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nfocuswork/.

48Hour Film Project

Michelle Marin as Tara in the short film Belong.

I spent this past weekend with my fellow NFocus guys taking part in the 48Hour Film Project. You can check out what took place by viewing our blog at http://nfocus48hourproject.blogspot.com.