Blessed

Blessed!  That’s perhaps the best key word that comes to mind as I consider the experience of a couple of Sunday evening ago.  Let me explain.

Friends Rick and Mick Vigneulle, were traveling with me in England and Wales.  We had just concluded the evening service at Woodhill Baptist Church in Colwyn Bay, Wales, when a 76-year-old gentleman approached me, standing immediately in front of me, only inches from my face, and asking, “Do you know how far back we go?”  After thinking for only a second or two, I replied, “Fours years, I think.”

With eyes sparkling, Arnold Rigby retorted, “No, we go back to 1976.  You were preaching in Bury, England the night I accepted Christ as my Savior!”  Over thirty years ago, a team of singers from Liberty University (then Liberty Baptist College) and I were traveling for the first time to Great Britain.  Our closing service was on a Sunday evening in the Bury/Manchester area in a church whose pastor (Forrest Tutor) was an American.  While Arnold Rigby was only one person among many who became Christ followers that evening, there was another adult woman who made that eternal decision at the close of that same service – Arnold’s then-74-year-old mother, now with the Lord.

Arnold Rigby and Dale Peterson

What makes this so special to me personally is this – Arnold, his wife Sheila, and daughter Miriam are some of the most humble, godly, servant-hearted people that I know.  When I first met Arnold and Sheila, they were working long hours in the commercial kitchen at a youth camp where I was speaking.  Miriam, then a college student, was helping in food services as well.  I have admired these three believers since I first met them.   And to realize that the Lord had used my service for Him, as I have prayed that He will, leaves me feeling … well … blessed!

BTW, do you pray?  If so, would you pause for a moment and ask the Lord to continue to use me for His glory?  I would be grateful!  Cheers!