Afternoon Lord. I’ve managed to sneak away at last – Emily is watching some Barbie movie (no comment), Nathan is asleep (thankfully), and Linley is out because she’s started her new job (very thankfully). I’m very pleased because my mind is full of things to talk about with you after Daniel’s visit yesterday afternoon.
To be honest you could have blown me over with a feather when the doorbell rang and I answered it only to find Daniel standing on the front step. I mean I know he’s our pastor but he’s not really the visiting kind of pastor. In fact, in all truth I’m not sure we really even know him all that well. Of course the house was in its usual Sunday afternoon uproar (unless we’re expecting Andrew’s parents) so I was a bit embarrassed, especially since I picture Daniel and Abigail’s house to be a place where no dirt is allowed and the sofas still have their plastic covers on in case anyone marks them.
Anyway, Daniel was gracious enough not to mention the mess (although I found myself surreptitiously tucking things away when I thought he wasn’t watching) and he soon got down to the business of why he was there. First of all he wanted to come and say he was sorry to hear that Nathan was sick, but it soon became apparent he’d come because of other people rather than to tell us someone had died or we were about to be excommunicated.
His big concern is Caroline and Logan. It was clear that he’s heartsick about what’s happened to the two of them and at a loss to know what to do about it. I guess he thought that we, the best friend or the other hubby, might have some clue as to how to make things better. Of course we have absolutely no idea ourselves, something that became quite clear when Andrew recounted his conversation with Logan. I told Daniel that Libby had set up a meal roster but that Caroline’s big problem was getting a break since Christian was difficult to take out. I didn’t know what (if anything) to say about their potential money crisis, but I think we gave Daniel a bit more to go on.
His second big concern was about Sunday School. He’d noticed that we rarely come to church in the school holidays and wanted to know about that. He was also aware that there had been some tension at times between Diana and some of the children and he wanted to know our thoughts on that. I felt mean, but I was honest. I told Daniel that I thought Diana was out of touch with today’s modern, media-savvy child, and that the current Sunday School programme might have been okay for kids of the fifties or the sixties, but it wasn’t cutting it with the ‘noughties’. Daniel nodded a lot, but I think he’s a bit short on volunteers and not sure what to do with (or about) Diana. He sort of asked me if I’d be interested but I told him I really wasn’t Sunday School material. Besides, that sort of commitment effectively means you never get to hear sermons and I’d miss that.
Next, Daniel talked about the failure of Abigail’s little soiree on Saturday night. He asked us if there was any particular reason why we hadn’t thought to go. Of course I said that we didn’t want to leave our chicken pox boy, but what I didn’t say was I guess we could have got a babysitter if we’d really wanted to go. Daniel said only five people came (apart from their family who were probably there at gunpoint and would have made everyone uncomfortable with their miserable faces) and that Abigail was very disappointed. I diplomatically tried to suggest it wasn’t the best time of year what with it still being school holidays, but apparently Abigail had thought that would be a perfect time – the kids could stay up late, most people were back if they’d been away etc. I had no idea how to tell Daniel it was fear that had kept us away – fear of what horrible activities Abigail might have organised.
Then Daniel said that Cameron had come to church yesterday with Ashley and that he, Daniel, could clearly see that things were not well between Ashley and Claire. In fact, Daniel said he didn’t know if we knew or not but he was sure they’d had some sort of argument in the car park afterwards. He wondered if there was anything he could do to help? I was tempted to say, “An exorcism for Claire?” but didn’t think it was quite the right joke in front of the pastor (if joke is indeed the right word).
Anyway, the upshot of Daniel’s visit is that there are plenty of troubled people out there, and way too many of them have connections to us. I suppose in a way it was comforting to realise that there are plenty of things out there that Daniel has no idea about how to handle either. So we did about the only sensible thing we could do, which was to pray, and I reiterate those prayers today, Lord, and pray you would bring about solutions to all these little (and big) problems. Better go now…sounds like Nathan is stirring…Amen