Thursday, January 7, 2016
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are
already doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11(NLT)
Encouragement
is almost tangible!
A
memory: In 1967 a pair of 19 year old
kids, facing the unknown of Vietnam and what the future might hold, decided to
tie the knot. The local minister at the
Smithtown Methodist Church agreed to juggle the schedule and marry us right at
the end of that Sunday’s service. It was
amazing how people just dropped everything and helped us put together (in only
three days) a wedding with a full bridal party and reception in the church
fellowship hall. So encouraging!
For our
one-day honeymoon trip we drove to New York City to attend a Broadway
play. It’s amazing how intimidating the
whole nightlife scene of that city can be, even for people who grew up just an
hour’s drive from the city that never sleeps.
But we managed to locate the theatre, and it was such a relief when the
parking garage was right across the street.
An attendant took Elizabeth’s old 1960 Rambler and gave us a ticket stub;
the car disappeared as he drove it into the tunnel entry. Valet parking! This was going to be first class!
The show
ended late, and the people poured-out of the theatre; we were across the street
in a jiffy, handing the ticket for our car to the attendant. While we waited the crowd thickened, until
there seemed to be no end to the sea of people.
We were
like young does caught in the headlights.
The freezing New York February night air, a crush of thousands of
strangers milling around, the noise of traffic, people shouting to be heard
over the street sounds, and our old Rambler
stuck in a 10-story parking garage – well, it all made for some anxious
moments; would we ever make it back to sleepy, little Smithtown?
Our
answer showed up right on cue. The first
vehicle to emerge from that tunnel of an entryway to the parking garage was
none other than our 1960 green and white Rambler with “Just Married” written in
soap and chalk all over the front and sides.
Balloons and streamers still hung from the rear bumper. It was a welcome sight!
Then the
attendant yelled out our ticket number, and suddenly the whole world silenced as
people stopped talking to check their stub; then ten thousand pairs of eyes
fixed on the little green car with JUST MARRIED glaring off
every surface as it rolled-up to where we stood.
As the
young man in uniform escorted his bride of 36 hours to the passenger side of
the little green Rambler and opened the door for her, the crowd (all 38 million
of them) erupted in applause. I looked
around to see if perhaps the stars of the Broadway show had appeared, but it
became embarrassingly obvious that the mob was applauding Elizabeth and
Russell.
That was
nearly 49 years ago. But the
encouragement of so many people who wanted to congratulate us and encourage us
is an indelible picture moment that warms my heart as each February
approaches.
Encouragement
is supposed to be like that. It comes
from unexpected places and always at the right, but most unlikely times. It might be a simple word, a comforting touch,
a bill paid, an invitation extended, or one of a thousand other commonplace or
extraordinary kindnesses…but encouragement lasts for a lifetime.
I know.
For You Today
You might have missed the last time you had a chance
to encourage someone; don’t miss the next one.
No comments:
Post a Comment