God loves each one of us as if each one of us were the only one.
"How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand." Psalm 139:18
Each year I go with a team to Mexico on a mission trip. We do a construction project, a medical mission, an evangelism team, a sewing skills team and a vacation Bible school team. Usually I stick with construction but this year, one of our drivers had a wreck (no one hurt) and I was pulled off of construction to be a driver.
Driving in Mexico is an experience I wouldn't want to wish upon anyone. I'll take 5 o'clock Fayetteville traffic any day. I was asked to drive a team of teenage girls all across downtown Rio Bravo for vacation Bible school. This was the team that was in the wreck so their nerves were pretty frayed. Quite often I heard shrieks and feet hitting imaginary brakes on the floorboards.
When we arrived at our first location, I helped bring kids into the church by playing soccer. We learned pretty quickly that if you wanted to bring kids in, soccer was the key. On the first day there was a little five-year-old boy who became my favorite. If I could rename my kids, I'd give them his name. His name was Angel Gabriel.
That's just cool.
So Angel and I colored together. We played musical chairs and he drew me a picture. He helped me put together a bracelet (which didn't last) (I'm not craftily inclined.) One of the highlights was when Angel and I skipped rope together.
Each morning I walked into the church and Angel would excitedly yell, "Pastor!!!"
One of the things I've learned is that my name is really hard to pronounce in Spanish. "Troy" is just not a word that makes sense to their tongues. For all the other pastors it was no problem. There was Pastor Jim and Pastor Lee and Pastor Mark. But for me it was just "pastor." It was comical watching everyone try to say "Troy." So in the end we decided that my name was just pastor.
Which is fine with me.
On the last day, it was an emotional time. We had gotten to know the kids really well and saying goodbye was extra tough because we might not see them again. After I packed the water cooler and VBS supplies back into the van, I walked back into the church to give Angel the bracelet we had made. Before I got into the entrance way, Angel came running over to me and jumped into my arms. He gave me a huge hug and after I sat him back down I told him in broken Spanish, "Dios te quiero y yo." (I know, it's not proper Spanish but it's the best I could do. "God loves you and so do I")
Angel gave me an extra strong hug, puffed out his chest and proudly said, "Te quiero, Pastor Troy!"
He said my name!!!!!!
He had practiced pronouncing my name! I'm told that he practiced it all week just so he could say it correctly.
We're told that God thinks about us more than the grains of sand. God knows our names and shows us love in everything that we do. When I heard Angel call me by name, I felt the practiced love of God in my very soul. God shows us love in all kinds of ways. In the times of silent devotion and in times of corporate worship. And sometimes even when the Angel Gabriel says your name.
Let us pray.
Our gracious God. Sometimes people come into our lives like a summer wind. We pray today for all of those we've known that your love will be with them and your grace will go before them. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
The Blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ be With You.
PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. EMAIL: [email protected].
Religion on 06/22/2016