wild horses

...one of my all-time favorite rolling stones songs. the whole "wild horses" thing hit really close to home this weekend when my wife decided to go horseback riding with a group of our kids. at 11:00 saturday, i got a phone call saying that she'd had an accident and an ambulance was on the way to get her and take her to drew memorial. all the info i had was that the horse took off all at once and she lost her balance and hit a tree. on the way to the hospital i called her mom in MS, then i called in some prayer support... i dialed up my road warrior jim "dad" whaley, and my dearest friend and sister-i-never-had, tina b. not surprisingly at all, i got way more than i asked for. not only did they pray and tell others to pray, but both got to the hospital right after i did to lend their moral support as well. jim stayed until right before the ambulance got there, and then he had to get back to mind the store. tina stayed with me until they allowed me to go in back to be with crissie. later in the day when we were about to be discharged, i suddenly realized that between the EMT's and the folks at the ER, most of her clothing had been cut off of her (well, not her jeans anyway), and jim and denise came back to the hospital and brought some shirts so we could get home with some shred of dignity.

my co-workers jumped in without having to be asked and covered for me while i was at the hospital, as well as the rest of saturday and all day sunday. days off are few and far between around here, so i thank them for unselfishly offering to come back to work so i could be at crissie's side.

the ambulance folks from MASI were outstanding and did a great job for her, and i appreciate all they did to stabilize her and get her safely to the hospital. we were really fortunate... she got away with a broken wrist, 3 broken ribs and an array of bumps, bruises, scrapes and scratches... the thought of crashing into a tree while falling off a horse at full gallup conjured up images i didnt even want to consider.

i'm truly overwhelmed at the care and concern we continue to receive... we've had more food brought to us than you'd see after any funeral, and one of the girls we used to care for even bought crissie a 24-pack of dr. pepper, a gift of high value (to crissie anyway) if ever there was one! so many have called and stopped by to see how we're doing.

all this outpouring of love has reminded me of how it must have been in the early days of the Church, and God expects nothing less of His people today. in acts 2:42-47, the Christian community came together thusly:

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

that last part of verse 47, where the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved... that, friends, is a direct result of folks looking at our lives, and seeing how we treat each other in His name. see, we dont have to be bold orators or great teachers. st. francis of assissi once said "preach the gospel always... when necessary, use words." some very kind and heartfelt words have been spoken to us this weekend, but by far what has been most meaningful are the expressions of Christian love and kindness that have come our way!

yeah, the stones had a hit on their hands with "wild horses", but just a few years prior, a guy by the name of peter scholtes wrote a more excellent song...
"...and they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love; yes they'll know we are Christians by our love."