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Snapshots Of The Chattanooga Meeting
The Centreville church gives me a platform of support that allows me to preach both locally and in other places. Unfortunately, when I preach elsewhere, you miss the benefit I receive from the experience. So here are a few highlights of my recent meeting in Chattanooga:
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Adam Miller is in his mid-30s, married with two teenage daughters. A while back Adam learned he had cancer in his pituitary gland and it had to be removed. The pituitary controls production of several hormones, and without it hormonal balance must be achieved through medication. This is a struggle, and when Adam gets to the end of a hard day, his energy level can quickly crash. But Adam and his family were at worship every time; he led singing one service; and his wife, Alicia, helped him to the car every evening. Positive attitudes; inspiring people.
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Another young family has recently begun meeting with the North Terrace congregation. The husband has a new job with Aflac, and they have three adopted children. His wife homeschools. Oh, and they live in a small travel trailer in a KOA campground while looking for a piece of property to park their trailer permanently. But again, they had bright dispositions and seemed very happy in spite of compressed living quarters.
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I stayed with Perry and Heather Hurst and their two teenage boys. Perry preaches at North Terrace. You’d think any decent folks would want the Hursts as neighbors, but people in the world can be awfully unpredictable. Perry’s in-laws live next door, but beyond them lives an irrational drunk. When the Hurst’s little dog wandered into his yard, he shot her with a high-powered pellet gun. The pellet traveled the length of her body and lodged near her heart, where it still resides.
The neighbor on the other side of Perry continually calls the police and fire department on him when he starts a fire in his back yard for a cookout. There is no reasoning with the man, even though the authorities have made it clear that the practice is legal.
The moral of these little snapshots: I’m always reminded during my preaching travels that life’s issues and problems are basically the same everywhere. Don’t let a “grass is always greener” discontentment rob you of the joy that exists within your own sphere of life.
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