On a dark and stormy night in 1938, millions of Americans huddled around their radios, listening to a broadcast that would forever change the way we think about truth and the power of storytelling.
The program was called “The War of the Worlds,” and it was a fictional drama about a Martian invasion of Earth.
‘Twas Easter 2020, and I sat in my room,
Looking outside and feeling all gloom.
The sun barely shining, the earth filled with fear,
And I stuck at home with my cellphone drawn near.
A virus with seemingly little resistance
Had forced me and others to “socially distance.”
A moment of weakness as I sat alone
Caused me to question, “Is God still on the throne?”
For why would a God full of mercy and love
Let bad things occur and just watch from above?
“Please tell your church that we thank them for letting you come and minister to us.”
The Ghanaian man who translated for me as I preached thanked me profusely for coming to his church while the congregation nodded their heads in agreement. It meant so much to them that my church in Minnesota would share me with them for a Sunday, one-third of the way around the globe.
The image is embedded in my mind…
…the day my bedroom became a birth room.
I’m a visual person, so when I remember things, I see them. If I can’t see it, I probably don’t remember it. The farther back you go in my life, the fewer pictures I still have, but one of them I will never forget- or, I hope I never do.
In 2015 I started getting into the habit of traveling a lot. While doing an internship in Omaha, I still had to take seminary classes in Ankeny, IA, so I estimate that I made about 40 of those 5-hour round trips that year. God also provided opportunities that year to go on a family vacation in Washington and Oregon, an orchestra tour in Minnesota, a short soccer tournament trip in Florida, and a ministry trip in the San Francisco Bay area.
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