I stand in awe

After church on Saturday night, Valorie and I loaded Olivea in the car and rolled back home. A great friend of ours was in town for his grandma's funeral and wanted to hang out. So, we dropped Olivea off at Nana's house, put her to bed, and rolled down to a local Bar and Restaurant. We small talked for a while, but then the conversation drastically changed. My buddy grew up in church and is an awesome guy. I've always enjoyed hanging out with him. We were even in each others weddings. Val and I are pushing up on our 9th wedding anniversary. But, he and his wife were divorced only after a brief marriage. His wife basically just left one day. Ever since then he has struggled. It's been really hard to shake those circumstances. So, as we sit there he just goes right into his struggles with God and church and religion. He knows I am a Pastor and have been for a long time - but this conversation is new and has never come up before. I could literally feel God pushing me aside. I could hear him saying, "Adam. Adam! Put the chips down and watch this." And so (except for the chip part) I did as I was told. I watched God use my wife to talk to our friend. She was amazingly prepared to engage in this difficult conversation. I stood in awe as I heard her slowly letting my friend know that he wasn't alone - in his doubts, in his worries, in his fears, in his questions. And even though there was no huge, out loud breakthrough - there was a silent, steady step in the right direction - not just in his life, but in ours.