Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Missionary (10/19/06)
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TITLE: Motor Home Preacher | Previous Challenge Entry
By Roy Proctor
10/23/06 -
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Ah, to relax. We smile as the weather station reports a record heat wave in the south where we live part of the year. But here we are, with the windows in the motor home open and the cool breeze of the North Carolina mountains soothing our bodies and minds. Global warming? What is that? If there is such a thing, we don’t feel it here.
So, are we running from the responsibilities of life? Maybe our families need us. Or, what of the church we left behind? Surely there are things we should be doing there. Street witnessing. Visitation. Or even teaching a Sunday School Class. But then, we are retired; part of the useless generation with no relevance in regards to the contemporary “under thirty” crowd.
“What do you make of that grouchy old Mr. Jason?“ my wife asked.
Her question jars me from my day dreaming. “What about him?” I reply.
Mr. Jason, a man of our age. He once was a very successfully salesman but became “burned out,” according to him, from stress. His pudgy face has a reddened appearance that matches his waistline that‘s far bigger than his chest. He seldom smiles and he frequently complains about all aspects of life.
What of Mrs. Jason? She just stares off into space when her husband goes on his tirades. Her eyes look lifeless and her lips grow tense as she listens silently.
It’s disconcerting to find that many folks our age behave much like the Jasons. Surely they don’t intend to sit and “gripe” the rest of their lives away. You mean, the Lord has brought us this far and wants us to complain, as we slip closer to our graves. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and his mercies are new every morning.
Instinctively, my wife and I ask the same question. How do we approach the Jasons, as well as others in the motor home set? Of course, we become friends with them. Once we find empty spots in their lives, we insert Jesus there. We share with them how the Lord keeps us fresh, even as the years creep up on us. You know, the power of our testimony.
The next thing I know, I’m standing in Mr. Jason’s Motor Home. My wife makes the best mushroom hamburgers of all time. “Are you and your wife doing anything tonight? How would you like to have dinner with us?”
“What the h… do you think we’d be doing?” he responds. “Of course, we’d be glad to come.”
As I walk back to our Motor Home, I realize that we’ve got a big job to do with this character. But then, all things are possible with our God. He empowers us to do anything on his behalf.
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I would have liked to see him introduced at the very beginning of your story--that would have drawn me in sooner.
I found the narrator's perception of himself interesting, realizing he's older like the character he describes and having to deal with that.