WHEN THE PAINT DRIES!
At the church we attended while living in Medford, we met a family that grew dear to our hearts. Hallie and Carl had two young boys! Lovely family, with a lovely home in a wooded area and hearts that were open to all who entered there. Hallie was very talented inside and outside her home. She loved gardening and the grounds around their home showed it. Carl loved Hallie and it was apparent in all the projects he helped her with.

I remember one time when we were sprucing up all of the Sunday School class rooms. I think I was teaching the Jr. High class at the time and I was privileged to work along side Hallie as we painted and wallpapered a room. We talked about her oldest boy who was graduating from high school, entering the service and also thinking of marriage. It was hard for Hallie to let her son go! We shed tears that morning because I too am like Hallie; I found it hard to think about letting my children go into the world and become all that they could be.

Putting paint on the walls is like raising your children. It isn't until the paint dries do you know what the color will actually be. So it is with children; we raise them praying that they will grow into fine adults, but until they are grown we don't really know what that will be.

Jim and I served at White City Christian Church for 31 years. We loved all the people who passed through those doors. Oh, some were difficult and some very easy. But God sent them through the doors at WCCC! At one point Jim knew that when we retired we would move closer to the church so that we could be of more service as we grew older. Sort of like building and grounds caretakers. During our active years many things happened. A period of prosperity; a time of discontent and church splits; a time of rebuilding; and a time when Jim found himself filling the pulpit. All the way, as we went down these paths, our love for the Lord never wavered but our understanding of what God wanted from us was not always, totally clear.

When it came time for us to retire our kids were living in Klamath Falls and the grandsons were growing so fast we knew we wanted to live closer to them and so our plans changed. About 5 years before we were to retire, we began to prepare the people at WCCC by encouraging them to become more actively involved in the service of the King. As our time drew near the church was in discontent again. A few years before we were to leave, the pastor resigned. Jim and I had given the 'up front' positions to others, except now, Jim found himself in the pulpit.

We moved and Jim would drive over the mountain to continue in the pulpit until the new preacher would arrive. Eventually a young pastor came to help through the transitions and brought with him a team from his church. The church began to grow but the struggles continued to grow within the remaining body. Resentments began to fester because some of the old timers were not being included up front. Then the doors closed! My, how our hearts ached!

If we had stayed, would it have mattered? If we had done some things different, would it have mattered? I wonder if John had not been sent to the Island of Patmos and remained the preacher at Ephesus, if that church would have remained. "I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." Revelation 2:3-5

I look back on our years at White City and know that the Holy Spirit was there. I look back and remember all those who came through those doors and the young people who grew up in those walls. The word is continuing to spread, even today, because of that little church. When the paint dries, it's a new room. When doors close, others open. Our God reigns! Jane Ann