I had to iron a shirt.
The village where I stayed washed some clothes and even ironed two shirts. Did a great job—very professional. But we ran out of time to do the next two. They were washed, but not ironed and, if I wanted to wear them, I’d have to “put on your big boy pants, get the ironing board out and iron those shirts.”
Those were some of the last words my son, Josh, spoke to me. He called me on a Monday evening to tell me about a problem he was having at church. When I heard the reason for his call, I said: “Wait, I’ve got a problem.” I informed him that I was at a convention in Nashville with only two shirts and one was very wrinkled. That’s when he gave me his charge. Then he told me his problem at church, which, in the light of 24–hours and eternity was very trivial. We prayed together. And the phone conversation ended with me saying: “I love you, Josh.” And him replying: “I love you dad.” The next day he was telling Jesus face-to-face that he loves Him.
So, I thought of that when I pulled out the ironing board and tried (emphasis on “tried”), to iron the first shirt. I think the ironer went off about half way through the process, but I didn’t know it and kept going. Quite frankly, the shirt looks just as wrinkled as it did before I tried this. I even asked my nephew if the shirt looked wrinkled . . . he confirmed the obvious. Another pastor suggested I not trying it again.
Oh, I would conclude the story about my last phone conversation with my son, with the following: “That’s exactly what I did. I got my big boy paints on, took the shirt down to the front desk and told them to send it out and get it ironed.” Sometimes we need to laugh to keep from crying.
Well, after having failed miserably with the first shirt, that’s exactly what I will do with any future ones. The cost 140 Rupees, which may sound like a lot, but it’s a little more than 2-bucks and keeps a person employed.
BTW, in just a few days I will have the distinct honor of dedicating a church to the glory of God in memory of our son. God gave us enough money to build two. Town fathers halted one at the roof line. That will have to wait until next year. We serve a great God!
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