West Cocoa Chat

It was an interesting day of worship for this “Keeper of (avoiding the use of the “e” word for certain members of our blog family) Sheep.” I was asked by our “Worship Deacon” to monitor one of our members who was relatively new to working our soundboard.

The funny thing was the Lord had other plans for “my schedule.” Just after communion, one of our ushers asked me to step out into the foyer. For some reason, one of our teens had been out in the parking lot (perhaps avoiding the sermon) when he was approached by a woman who lives across the street from our building. She told the young man her boyfriend/fiancée of 5 years had been verbally abusive to her and she wanted to talk to someone from “the church.”

As I walked across the street towards the house my “where is the boyfriend/is he waiting for me/is he as big as Lex” scans were going full steam. I came across the lady in questioned in her front yard. She was walking 3 dogs on leashes. There were no visible signs of abuse that I could observe. I asked her if I could help her and she relayed to me the same story from above. I asked her if she needed to call the Police. She replied “no” stating that she didn’t want to get her boyfriend/fiancée of 5 years in trouble.

I then asked her what she wanted? You would have thought I had thrown acid in her face by the way she reacted. She asked me what I meant and I told her she could not control her boyfriend, as much as she wanted. She could only attempt to control what she wanted and to evaluate if what she was doing was getting her what she wanted.

Through tears she told me she wanted her boyfriend to be closer to God. I told her it was admirable for her to want her boyfriend to be closer to God but she couldn’t force him any more than I could force her to call the police. Through all of this I was trying to get her to think about herself and if she was in an abusive relationship, to try and break the cycle.

What was the result of my efforts? Her tears went away, her facial expression changed, and she told me she didn’t want to talk to me any more. I was summarily dismissed and so I went back inside our building.

After services and in the hustle and bustle to get our “moms” (including wife as Brady would say) away to the nearest restaurant of Mother’s Day, I was approached by one of our members. He/she wanted to confess something to me, ask for prayers, and guidance. As we prayed together in that empty classroom, I couldn’t help but think of Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." For a moment the little classroom felt crowded.