One Wintry November
evening
Brrr, it was cold outside and Mr Frost had already begun his
visit I noticed as soon as I opened my front door. Wrapping the scarf around my
neck so as to keep out the winter chill, I closed the front door. I made my way
down the steps and out onto a pavement that was buzzing with people – unusual
for this time of evening I thought. Where did all these people come from? Where were they going? Then it dawned on me,
middle of November; today was Thursday, which meant late night shopping had
begun. Great, just what I didn’t need! I
felt a little pang of guilt then and as quickly as this thought popped into my
head - I got rid of it.
It seemed to me that Christmas seemed to be getting earlier
and earlier each year, even the Christmas lights were all switched on I noticed
as I neared the shopping mall. All along
the sidewalks, shops were gaily lit with colourful lights, windows adorned with
decorations & lots of gifts displayed in the windows to entice the
shoppers.
I hurried along wanting to get away from both the gaiety
that seemed to be all around plus the sharp crispness of the air – I wrapped
the scarf even tighter around me, boy it was cold. Crossing the road, I hurried
down a side street which was also brightly lit and for this I was thankful. I
checked my watch to realise that I was running later than intended, so I
quickened my pace until finally I was outside the gates to the church.
I hurried on into the building to find that I was not the
only one who was late which was a relief. I removed my gloves and scarf – it
was so nice to be in the warm and away from the coldness outside. The church building, I suddenly realised, was
already packed full of people as I looked around for a spare seat which I
eventually spotted over on the on the far left hand side of the large room.
The speaker had already begun which meant that the worship
was going to take place later on in the evening. If I had left home a little earlier then I
wouldn’t have missed the beginning but, at least at the end of the service I
could purchase the teaching on cd – this was something that had only just
started and was a fabulous blessing especially for those who couldn’t make any
of the services. Oh yes, this was a blessing indeed!
I reached into my bag, took out my bible, notepad and pen
and settled myself back into the seat to listen to the words being spoken by
the speaker at the front. This was a guy who was very well known in various
countries. A preacher, who over the years had become renowned for his gift of teaching;
A preacher, who had the ability to capture and hold the attention of his
audience, who also had this perfect knack of making them laugh at exactly the right moment. Oh indeed, he was good and he was a man whom
I had come to admire & respect over the years.
I smiled then remembering how we first met, which was at Bible College
