That Which I Feared Most Came Upon Me

Michael Graham, one of the heroes of this post, looking very much like himself, with that grin.

Job 3:25 For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.

That's how I felt on Sunday. I had committed to pick up Stephanie, our friend who has Parkinson's disease and has no help to come to church. I figured that I could manage it with all the setup and organizing of the church morning IF I could leave at 9:45, pick Stephanie up at 10, get back to church by 10:15, make sure my microphone and the recording system was working properly, and then boom, start the service at 10:30.

I had a new fellow come early to help set up. He's a nice guy, a British man who has recently returned to England after living in the US for twenty years.

Then I got a text from Elliot Wilsher, really, the only one who runs sound in the church, my setup buddy, my right-hand man. He was so sick he couldn't even stand up properly. He hated to do it, he said, but he had to stay home.

That's when the Job quote hit me. I was standing there motionless, trying to figure out what to do. Who could run the sound board? Holly had seen Elliot do things. Maybe she could give it a try. Who was going to record the CD and do the video? How was I going to get the whole system up and running and pick up Stephanie? I must admit I had lost all momentum. I was dead in the water.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the blur of very big Michael Graham swiftly move gear out of the lockup out to the floor with his typical grin. He also came to help us set up. This is a man who is typically late to church because he is picking up people to get them there. But he asked Elliot last week who else helps with setup. He was surprised to find out no one else helps. He decided he was going to answer the call to help.

When I saw Michael I thought, "Angels wear Nike™! We can do this now!" We all worked together throwing things together as fast as we could. Vanessa called her husband Piero to run sound. He had stayed home because of his arthritis bothering him, but he came and ran sound. He was quite familiar with the system. It was his board we were using!

I went to pick up Stephanie and found her ready to go. I got back in time to find: no sound from my microphone. I discovered a broken cable in the signal path. I replaced it, and we were back in business. I started the meeting. And it was a good meeting, too.

I would have thought it impossible that we could make it on a Sunday morning without Elliot. That which I feared most came upon me. I found that with Jesus all things are possible. I'm so glad He is with me.