What a wonderful testimony of God's faithfulness and love.    Thanks for
sharing.  Bet you miss those folks too.

Vicki

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 2:58 PM
Subject: [ECHURCH-USA] Have You Forgotten?


> Has God Forgotten About Me?
>
>
> By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>
>
>      We walked out of church together one Wednesday evening.  The
> night was beautiful.  It was quiet and only the sounds of the car
> doors slamming could be heard.  The engine fired and we pulled
> away from our parking spot in front of the little church we
> attended.
>
>      It was silent in the car for some time.  Then he spoke.  "You
> know, Phil," he said, "there's just something I don't understand I
> guess."
>
>      "What's that, Brother?" I asked; feeling I might have an idea
> of what he was thinking.
>
>      "They came tonight, as you noticed," he said, "and they
> hardly ever come."
>
>      "Sure," I replied cheerfully.  The came tonight because they
> just bought a brand new car that they wanted everybody to see.  I
> wasn't impressed"
>
>      "That's what I don't understand," the 75 year old man said
> with a sigh.
>
>      "What about it, Brother?" I replied, now knowing exactly what
> he meant.
>
>      "Well, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, you understand," he
> continued with a weariness to his voice, "but it does bother me."
>
>      I waited for him to continue; knowing that he would.  We had
> become close friends over the years and he was like a dad to me.
> He was spiritually wise beyond few men I knew and he had only a
> fourth grade education.  He had raised several children.  Two
> different sons had been killed by passing cars at two different
> times and that was just the tip of the iceberg of all the
> adversity he and his wife had suffered through their 50 years of
> marriage.  I had even told him once that when I grew up, I was
> about 49 years old at the time, I prayed God would make me just
> like him.  I wasn't joking either.
>
>       "Here I am," he said, "driving this old beat up car but
> don't get me wrong.  I'm thankful for what the Lord has given me.
> We have a good enough house and all for our age and we are
> thankful for it, too.  We have loved and served the Lord
> cheerfully in the church all these years and we have been
> spiritually and financially faithful to the Lord.  Yet, a feller
> just gets to wondering sometimes."
>
>      Of course, what he was really wondering, was why the people
> who had been there that evening with their new car, appeared to be
> so blessed, especially when their lives, and the lives of their
> children, were so screwed up spiritually.  Was he wrong for
> wondering?  Of course not.  He also knew way more than I did about
> that family.  I felt privileged he felt free to share his feelings
> with me.
>
>      Less than six months later, we were riding in the same old
> car to church on a Sunday night and he said, "Phil, I want to tell
> you something but I don't want anybody else to know.  This is just
> between you and me."
>
>      "Ok," I agreed, "that's fine.  What is it?"
>
>      "Well, I want your opinion but just keep this between us
> right now."
>
>      "Ok," I said again.  What is it?"
>
>      "Well," he began, it is this way.  Ann and I have been given
> an opportunity to move back to eastern Kansas.  We have a relative
> who has almost a brand new four bedroom home they want to sell to
> us."  As the conversation continued, he explained the house
> already had a sloping sidewalk for his wife, who was, at that
> time, in a wheelchair, plus centrally air conditioned, and they
> had several relatives living nearby and the town was small enough,
> you could walk to just about any place you wished.  Additionally,
> the sale of their house in Denver would allow them to buy their
> relative's home and pay cash for it.  That's not all.  Due to the
> sky high house market in Denver, they would be able, after they
> purchased the new house, bank 100,000 dollars.  I casually pointed
> this out to him and suggested this was the Lord.
>
>      When he finished, I said, "So what's the problem Brother?"
>
>      "Well," he said, "I don't know if we should do it.  I mean,
> we'll have to move and all and I just don't know.  What do you
> think?"
>
>      I said, "Wait just a minute.  You are asking me if you should
> make this move or not?"
>
>      "Yep.  I'm asking your opinion."
>
>      I said, "Brother, if you don't take this deal, you've got
> rocks in your head.  Don't you see it?"
>
>      "See what?" he wanted to know.
>
>      "Just a few weeks ago, you were feeling the pain of serving
> God all your life but living on your social security and hardly
> making it each month.  Now, the Lord is giving you a chance,
> during your retirement years, to live in a beautiful house with
> air conditioning, which you don't have now, you can bank a good
> hundred grand, and you can go down to the local car dealership and
> buy a 40,000 dollar van, if you want to, paying cash for it, and
> still have sixty grand left in the bank.  What is the matter with
> you?"  I think he had stopped listening when I mentioned he would
> have 100,000 cash left over.  I nearly stopped thinking myself
> when I thought of God's immense grace he was about to bestow upon
> this humble man and his wife.
>
>      He said, "I guess you're right.  It is the Lord, isn't it?"
>
>      I said, "Of course it is the Lord.  Who else would pull off
> something this big?  If you let this go by, Brother, I'm going to
> call your relative up myself and take the deal.  I'd love living
> out there in that little town.  If you do it, maybe Sandy and I
> will just move out there and rent one of the bedrooms from you."
> He laugh as the relief washed over him.
>
>      they eventually moved, of course, and one day they drove
> their nice air conditioned van back to Denver and took us out to
> eat.  God doesn't forget.  Yeah, but you say, "These people were
> old?"  Who you calling old here?  Sure, now they are about 80
> years old but doing well, more active in church than ever before,
> and his wife isn't in a wheelchair any more.  Like I said, God
> doesn't forget.  He doesn't forget us if we don't forget who He is. So all
> we have to do is remember who He is.
>
>
> Phil C Sharp
> The Coil Of The snake
> A Free Online E-Novel
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
>