From Cairo to Kentucky

Long-suffering.   I’ve been thinking about this word for the past few weeks. It all started when a ghost from our time in Egypt past reentered our lives in the form of an email.   Without going into much detail, I’ll just say that this was sent from a person whom we suffered long with.   And as I was reminded of the situation, I acknowledged the fact that it is easier for me to suffer long with difficult circumstances than it is to suffer with difficult people. I say this because about the same time we received that email, I was sent pictures of my old house in Egypt.   Four years I “suffered” with a kitchen that was adequate, but by no means ideal.   During our time there, we had to replace the refrigerator and the stove, but not before months of making due with a leak in the fridge and an oven that blew out smoke.   Countless visitors came and commented on both, and yet, the changes came slowly.   As we were getting ready to move, word came ...

This past Monday night, I attended a Women’s Communion in our community.   I thought I’d be participating in the Lord’s Supper, and discovered instead a wonderful fellowship meal awaiting us, where I was fed up both physically and spiritually.   I was especially happy to be there, considering the speaker was my former “teacher/mentor” from the class I no longer could attend after I started working.   She is retiring and this was her last chance to address us all, and she didn't fail us.   After thirty years of ministry, she spoke about all the things she’s learned “since I was perfect.” Perfect, right?!?! There are many things that will stay with me from her short talk.   How she’d rather not say she’s been used by God, because she’s been used by a lot of people and that’s not what God is about.   How if she’s got everything under control, watch out, because she’ll be controlling you next! How we need to eat up Scripture, but at the same time, fi...