Carving Pumpkins!


Wow! What a weekend! Soo much goodness and fellowship. It was great to be with Whitney and Jared as they count the few days before getting married. Being able to speak at their church was a privilege and honor. This is a body that loves and has embraced the two of them. It is a real blessing for us to be able to see them minister in place that is thrilled to have them do so.

While their wedding is coming up very soon, a couple of months ago, we went to Oklahoma City for the wedding of some good friends.

On the way, we stopped along the turnpike, at one of those places where 'billions have been served.' We needed a break, and Lauren had a particular thirst for a fountain drink. She nursed it the rest of the trip.

We arrived, and got settled in at the home of a friend. After a brief time there, we headed to the church. We all rode in our car, which meant the back seat now had three young women in their early twenties.

There was a lot of talking and laughing, as you might expect. It was the first weekend after our summer trips were over, so there was much catching up to do.

That's why it was such a surprise.

Conversation had been flowing, as it seemed we all talked at once, for a time. The fellowship meter was in the "Happy" zone.

Suddenly, high pitched screaming that seemed to multiply! I am told it was one person, but I still find it hard to believe. From my perspective, there were three mature young women in our back seat as Deanna and I listened in and participated in the conversation when we could.

I was driving on a country road, headed to the church, and now, blood curdling screaming overwhelms my ears!

What on earth should I do? Cars in front and behind...no shoulder on the road...what was happening behind me?

The screams subsided for a moment, and then rose again as if in competition with the first burst.

I was in shock. My eyes darted from the rear view mirror to the cars around me, looking for a place of refuge and for the cause. I had to keep driving.

After a time, the high pitched torment fled down the scale into discernible, fragmented, words.

What had caused the departure from reality?

Lauren, who had sipped on her fountain drink until it was dry, popped the lid off of her cup. When she did, to her utter horror and nausea, beetles were crawling in her ice! Two good sized ones!

I understand that Lauren was not the screamer. It didn't matter. My ears hurt.

Few of us are fond of creepy crawly things. None of us expect to find them in our drinks! Lauren had the drink in hand the entire time...these uninvited guests, had to have entered at the point of origin...the fast food stop.

I'm pretty sure we will never stop at that particular place again. It wasn't even Halloween and they were serving up "beetle juice."

Too often in our lives, this is how sin works. The outside is represented as normal, perhaps nothing even noteworthy. However, on the inside, evil is at work. We allow bitterness or some other deception to take root within and it begins to feed and fester on the ugliness we each struggle to overcome.

When it is revealed, there is a collective disbelief.

Fortunately, we have a supplier that is above reproach. No creepy crawly evil can penetrate at this Source. When we allow Him, He cleanses us from the inside out. Such things can be removed (and not revealed unless we choose to...which can be a good thing) without the terror or embarrassment that we fear.

I Praise God that He works in such ways that our inner struggles can be set in order, if we allow Him access.

It is His desire to cleanse, and we benefit from yielding to Him! Some of us need to remove the lid, and allow Him a peak at what needs bathed in His Amazing Grace.

brent