Friendship, Fun and Memories

Yesterday I received the visit of an old friend, Erwin Bush.  We were teenage buddies in church together, rode our bikes all over Portland, Oregon together, had our first airplane ride in a light aircraft together, hiked into the woods to pray together, drove in my 33 Oldsmobile to the beach together and even shared a yard-maintenance business together for a while.  Erwin was always big and muscular, so strong he would accidentally snap a shovel handle in two when digging and break off a bolt when tightening it. In sharp contrast I was a skinny runt. This week I invited him to fly in from San Antonio to attend the memorial service in memory of our wonderful pastor, Reverend Noble Ballew, who passed away two weeks ago.  I found one of our old hymn books that is falling apart and the first thing we did when he arrived at my house was sit at my piano and worship the Lord together for an hour or so.  

The memorial service was at 1 PM today and it was delightful, seeing old friends and hearing the many testimonies of lives that had been touched by our pastor over the years.  Death at 90 years old is no tragedy for a Christian.  His son, Pastor Ron Ballew in the Hilmar Church where the celebration was held, preached on 1 Thess 5:16 "Rejoice evermore!"  And that is just what we were doing... joining our pastor who is rejoicing today in heaven.

Earlier this morning we joined my son Tim and his Neighborhood Church worship team to play for a civic event in the Salida City Park.  There was a nice parade with horses, firetrucks and a large marching band, plus dozens of stands displaying and selling their wares.  The city provided us with a platform and professional sound system.  I joined Tim's very talented band with my Hawaiian Guitar as we did some awesome Christian songs.  

Then Tim had me do a show with Perfume and Felipe, who... of course, told a Bible story. 

Parents and grand-parents brought their kids up close to touch Perfume, the skunk.  I noticed them taking pictures of their littlest kids reaching out to pet her.  I hope they don't try that on a wild skunk some day.

It was a beautiful event and while Erwin was sitting in the bleachers, he talked to a woman with a little baby in her arms, who was really needing the Lord.  

After the event I was picking up my guitar and preparing to leave to take Erwin to the memorial service when he told me about this lady's need and how he had promised to pray for her.  He pointed her out to me as she was walking away.  I felt God speaking to me to run after her.  As I suspected... she is from a Spanish-speaking background.  She opened her heart to me, telling me about how she is passing through some difficult times... and then asked me to pray for her right there on the street corner.  I recognized that God had put this together. We didn't make a scene, but God came down close to us and I believe His presence followed her home with her great-granddaughter in her arms.  Tim's church is not far away and I invited her to the services.  I hope she will be able to come.

Ralph