The Journey: God Takes Point 12-23-2019

By Dean Foster

The Journey: God Takes Point

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

      There is just this one Journey in life that you will never travel alone. As Journeymen we are called to travel together of course, bringing our friends and brothers along. Something I find useful to remember is that when our life is in Christ, God has shown us the Way. Still, He is always there to lead us because the Journey is always going to be His.

      I didn't know why I was there that day. I'd passed by the red brick building in my car at least a hundred times and scarcely noticed it. There was no reason to stop in that day either but I did. I was probably thinking I'd see someone I knew and then we could go somewhere else to do something fun. Notice how God works these things. He is so completely in control He lets us think we are.

      It was the summer of '75, sixteen years old, nice car, didn't have to work that day, so I was looking for something to do. It was the late afternoon already so there I was at the Lodi Community Church Ice Cream Social. The person I thought might be there was busy dishing out ice cream though, so she asked me to wait in the fellowship hall. Someone else said, "The Singing Angels from Ashland are almost ready to start."

      I took a let's see what this is approach and went into the small fellowship hall. People were seated on rows of steel folding chairs set up facing a four-tiered riser on the other side of the room. I no sooner stepped back into a spot against the wall that the choir started filing in. They were a good size group of people mostly around my age I thought. The boys wore dark blue choir robes if I remember right and the girls were in white.

      When I think about it now, I didn't really notice her until they were all in place and how picturesque the whole scene was. By that I mean not until I really felt the honesty and down to earth nature of it all. The real beauty of this small church filled with regular people about to praise God by listening to a group of young believers sing for them about Him. It made me feel like the Journey is out there, just go. Even though I couldn't recognize feeling that way just yet, God was getting me ready.

      I sometimes thought about how nice it was to see the group of believers together like that back then. Not that I was necessarily in that kind of mood that afternoon, I was more just looking for something to do on my day off. Still, there I was at a church Ice Cream Social in the little town of Lodi, Ohio. See what I mean, God is so in control of each of our Journeys that I thought I was there by choice or chance or for some other reason. God hadn't even crossed my mind. Which can be another way He gets you ready.

      As the choir settled into place standing on the risers my line of sight swept across the group and stopped with her. She was on the very end of the second tier. I saw her and simply could not believe the happiness that radiated from her smile out to the audience. I was at once amazed by the love reflected and displayed by the look on her face. She was young, fifteen I suppose, pretty in a simple way. But her whole demeanor as they sang was a mature genuine happiness, I could not fathom in one so young. Questions ran through my mind as I watched them singing. What in the world was it that allowed her to just glow with an absolute peace and fulfillment? It may sound like I am making more of all this than it was. The fact is I cannot describe how it felt that day. Something just spoke to me saying I had to find out what was different about her.

      Then before I knew it they had sung a few songs and were taking a break! They had already filed out into the hallway and I had to find her. I no more than stepped into the hallway to look for her and she was walking toward me in her white choir robe.

      As she came closer, I said, "Pardon me, my name is Dean."

      Turning to face me, in a soft voice she said, "I am Joy."

      I was taken aback for a second by her response and her appearance. Her light brown page-boy style hair covered her ears framing the flawless complexion of the young girl's face. She had light blue eyes behind silver wire rimmed glasses with octagon shaped lenses.

      I smiled saying, "Nice to meet you Joy, and let me say that your name is very appropriate." She continued to smile. Then I went on to explain that the reason I came out to find her was to ask about her smile and the happiness that she obviously has found somewhere. I explained that I realized it may seem a little odd for me to ask such a question but I felt like I would be making a mistake if I didn't.

      Her head sort of dropped back in a knowing way and she said, "Well Dean it is never a mistake to ask that question because it is very easy to answer. I am happy because God loves me so much that He was willing to send His only Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins so that I don't have to. And more than that, simply by believing in Him I have found everlasting life."

      After all these years I'm sure I can't remember exactly what she said beyond the way she started out, but suffice to say it was all I needed. I listened to that young girl tell me more of the Good News than I had ever heard before and can tell you it was not something she had memorized in case someone asked her. Joy was telling me what she knew to be true and was passionate about it! In her heart she knew all of this and it felt like she was there to tell me. It simply felt like God sent her and He brought me there that day to get thirsty for the Journey.

      I didn't completely understand what was happening when I agreed with Joy that I would like to be saved and know everlasting happiness. She gave me a prayer to read and as I began reading, I realized what was happening and was overwhelmed by it, choked up a little. She put her hand on my shoulder as though she knew I wanted to leave before others noticed and said, "It's O.K." then walked me to the outside doors and I left.

      Not long after that I received a card in the mail from Joy. She wrote to ask how my new life in Christ was going. She had been praying for me and hoped things were going well. She gave me her address and asked me to write back and tell her. I think I wrote back to her but I'm not sure. Somehow it was arranged for me to stop by her house one afternoon before the end of the summer.

      The house looked like a small mansion set back behind a large well-kept front yard on state route 42 just north of Ashland, Ohio; a white two story with big windows and four columns across the front. As I followed the sidewalk from the stone driveway toward the front porch, I noticed they must have just done the yard. It was perfectly groomed. The lawn was mowed, the sidewalk edged, not a blade of grass was left on the walk. The bushes were trimmed, squared off just right. Her parents must be very particular I thought. Or they had a gardener doing it for them.

      At the top of four or five steps was this large black front door. Joy welcomed me into a beautiful home. There were hardwood floors that appeared to have been recently waxed and polished. The large windows filled the room with sunlight. A black leather couch and chair in the front room were set off by a rectangular glass top coffee table. There was a stained and polished dark wood desk and chair in one corner.

      Joy started out by asking me how things were going now that I was reborn in Jesus. I think I must have fumbled for the words to answer that so she moved on. We talked and visited for quite a while but she talked about nothing but the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and how much God meant to her. She seemed to know a great deal more than any teenager I ever met. She never mentioned her school, her parents, friends, sisters, or brothers. No one else seemed to be home with her either. It was a nice uplifting visit and I told her as I was leaving that I might stop by again some time. She just smiled and encouraged me again to read my Bible.

      Two or three weeks later driving home from Ashland on a whim I stopped to see if Joy was home. I parked out by the garage again. It didn't look as nice this time, the grass needed to be mowed, but I didn’t think much about it.

      I used the big gold knocker on the big black door this time. After a long wait this very old lady opened to the door. White hair kind of cropped off at her shoulders, wearing a house dress and black comfortable shoes. With an angry look on her face she said, "What do you want?"

      I said, "Hello, my name is Dean. I am a friend of Joy's. I visited with her here a few weeks ago. I just stopped by to see if she is home today?"

      Not as angry but still not happy she asked, "What?"

      I repeated myself and then I will never forget what she said, as loud and clear as she could in this raspy angry voice she announced, "There is no Joy in this House!" before slamming the door as I stood there.

      At the time, I didn’t understand what this actually was. I was a sixteen-year-old high school guy with a friend sent by God to save my life. So it begins. God prepares us for the Journey, He leads us, and He always takes point.