One Night in London

 The other night in London, Tony and I were enjoying a lovely walk, looking at all the people and sights.  It was a beautiful evening, but I’ll have to admit I was still feeling a bit down about our recent theft and how it continues to complicate things.

I just couldn’t shake the feeling that things were not coming together as we had hoped. Our publisher was telling us all the right words, but so far had not come up with a single opportunity to promote our new book. He tossed the word, “Covid” around as some kind of answer to all his plans, but I can’t help but read “reluctance”.

Then there was the whole “please come volunteer to work with Ukrainian refugees” invitation. The needs are still there but the timing’s not right. It’s looking like we may not be able to do anything after all. I’m coming to realize that it’s getting harder and harder to justify our existence.

I sat down on an outdoor bench to wait for Tony to order some sushi.  (Yes, this is a very cosmopolitan city) The sushi was advertised as “Australian style” but even as an Australian, I’d never seen anything quite like it, it was delicious.

As I sat there under the street light, taking in all the sights, a frail little old lady came and sat down on the other end of the bench.  I slid towards her as Tony would be arriving soon and would need the room

We started chatting and she said that `I had beautiful pale skin.’ I thought that was an odd thing to say, but it led to us laughing when I told her that I’d lived in Africa where my ‘pale skin’ had only served me to get melanoma.

Without comment, she continued, “My grandfather finished the war with one eye and one leg, and he too wondered if there was anything else he could do to contribute to life.”

Now be aware, that I had said nothing whatsoever about what I was feeling at the moment. So why on earth would she say, “he too felt helpless”?

The lady continued, without even a pause, “So he got up and went to Nigeria and translated the Bible into one of the tribal languages!”

Well, that sure opened the door! I talked about my need for encouragement, the feelings of failure, and not understanding why no one wanted us as volunteers, and then laughing as we remembered sometimes volunteers aren’t much help at all.   It had turned out that thru her Grandfather, she had spent many years on the mission field, so seemed to really understand us.

Then Tony arrived with the sushi, and the conversation ramped up.  Such a happy time of joy and real heartfelt encouragement!

The lady reminded me so much of an elderly missionary lady in our church, who even though she’s getting foggy about the present, always regals us with so many amazing stories, so many miracles, so many instances of God providing beyond all expectations. 

Back to my bench mate, we got only her name, Ann, as she was reticent to say anything much more about herself.  I told her that I thought she might just be an angel, sent to encourage us.   She just smiled and wished us a good evening.

Maybe I should stop watching ‘Touched by an Angel’. Whaddya think? Whatever happened, we feel blessed. We walked back to the hotel feeling that it was indeed, a ‘Good Evening”. We remembered that God doesn’t always need us to perform and do amazing stuff; He has plans for us that we can’t even imagine. 

Love ya,

Marsha

 

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”  (Hebrews 13:2)