A funny situation followed up by a serious one

Today I had the oppurtunity to go with my pastor on a home visitation. Two things happened. One was very moving, and the other was just funny.

On the way to the home of the couple, we (my pastor and I) pulled up to an intersection. As we stopped, we both noticed something smeared out on the road in front of us. We were not able to identify what the substance was, only that it was a strange brownish-yellow (I'll let your imagination take that one). As we sat there trying to figure out just what we were looking at, my pastor asked "Is that [insert the proper colorful word here]?" Then he said "I sure hope not." I looked the direction he was looking and a car was very slowly spinning its wheels through a very large amount of the mystery substance. Needless to say it was spraying all over the car. I really hope that the driver was taking a trip to the carwash.

For the record...I think it was a spill of used cooking oil...but I'm not sure.

Now onto the serious side of this.

The visitation was with an older couple within the congregation. That in itself was a wonderful experience. The man is suffering from cancer, and they are both realistic about the eventual outcome. However, their outlook is one that is truely inspirational. His faith shows through very strongly and it was evident that he was at peace with God taking him home in the long run. While it was difficult to sit there and see the pain that his wife felt as she recounted the past few months, it still felt like a postitive experience to witness their interaction as they discussed their life situation. One that I will carry with me in my future ministry.