Oh Happy Day

He said it felt like Paul and Silas. The quake hit and the prison walls came tumbling down. His prison cell was open and the guards were all dead. He walked out and, like Peter set free by the angel, he headed into town. That's right Pastor is alive and though very weak he is doing well. He was waiting at the Rendezvous with six other people. They had found him laying exhausted on the side of the road. After finding our fish box they had been unable to figure out the riddle so after nursing Pastor back to health he told them what they must do to be saved. “Being saved”, he told them, “is more important than figuring out a riddle.” “Be saved” said he, “and you'll understand the riddle.” So taking the Bible in hand he showed them the way to righteousness. They all fell to their knees and begged God to have mercy on their souls. Assured by Romans 10:13 they arose with tear filled eyes and likened to have hugged pastor to death. “Don't thank me” Pastor said, “Give God the glory.” Pastor handed the paper containing the riddle back to them and said “Now read it again.” They did and then their faces lit up and with Pastor in tow they knew right where to go.
When we saw Pastor in the group through the binoculars we were overwhelmed with joy. Without any hesitation we rode Trigger as fast as he would carry us to meet them. We embraced them all and sat together to hear their story. We got control of our emotions and then, almost like Christ's triumphal entry, we put Pastor on Trigger and led him to the Pad, like a parade, singing God's praises with great joy. Pastor does not know where his wife is. No one seems to know but we will try in the coming weeks to find her or at least what has become of her.
We have church every day with just the nine of us. It's how we start and end each day. I have never been to more sincere worship services in all my life. We study the Bible as if cramming for a final exam. It's like we don't want to be embarrassed when we meet the Lord, having spent our lives in church and not knowing any more than we do about His Holy Word. We play this game kind of like charades where you have to get the others to guess a secret word or phrase and the only words that can come out of your mouth are quotes from scriptures. The ones who win this game are those who have memorized the most scriptures.

One of the six people who have joined us at the Pad can actually play the guitar. She is teaching me and I have been doing it all wrong. Music, worship, games, and work keep our minds off of our empty stomachs. We are rationing the food and we each try to reverse cheat by eating less than our fair share to leave more for the others. Misery loves company, they say, and something about our love for God has made us love each other supremely. There are two of us who have “extra” weight on our frames. We joke as we skip meals that we are dieting to be slim and trim as the rest. We are filtering water out of the creek and a near by pond for drinking water. Up to this point we had not needed our water filters and bleach. Each filter is good for about 50 gallons of water and we should be all set for drinking water. The garden we have planted lacks enough sunlight to flourish but it looks like we will have at least a meager harvest. Pastor believes that the rapture is about a year and a half away. I am praying the Lord will help us make it to end.