Reading the blogs of friends who are packing up and leaving various parts of Southeast Asia has been a weird experience. Some are headed to their home country for the summer, some are leaving permanently. It's been a reminder of how much we've missed these last few months while we've been in the US.
This past weekend, Nancy and I were able to travel to Louisville, KY to see a large group of friends who were gathering there. One, Charlotte Stemple, told a story that I'm sure I'd heard before. It had a new context for me this time.
The story is of an accomplished organist (also a friend of ours). During the year, she played at her church. For two weeks each summer, she played at a summer camp where they rented an organ for the meetings. Those two weeks were always a delight because the camp rented organs that were much nicer than the one Doris played back at church.
One summer, the camp outdid itself. Doris walked into the tabernacle to find a state-of-the-art organ on the platform. She fired it up, ran her fingers across the keys, tried this stop and that setting, and thought about how much she was going to enjoy playing for camp that year.
About that time, the woman who was assigned to play the piano came in. She saw the organ and she too was amazed. She said, "Oh, Doris, would you mind trading places for camp? I'll play this and you can play the piano."
Doris's heart sank. She had every right to say no, but a voice inside said, "Slide off the bench." And she did; graciously, without protest or complaint.
During my time in the US, I've told a lot of people about opportunities in Vietnam which were just beginning to bud last December/January - things that Nancy and I enjoyed and were looking forward to. We've had to "slide off the bench" and turn them over to others. It's not been without purpose though. We've experienced and learned much during these last five months. We've seen a more powerful, gracious hand in it than our own.
