Big Weekend... Very Big.

It was a big weekend in Houston at my mom’s house. Scott, Greg and I met up at mom’s house to meet up with my cousin Mark Perkins who had some appointments at MD Anderson for his cancer therapy. While we were in Houston Scott’s two youngest were baptized into Christ. Charlie and Charlotte have been talking about being baptized and my brother Greg is an essential ingredient in that recipe. He has done a lot for them spiritually including financing their way to FC Camp. It’s quite an interesting story.

Thursday afternoon we went to a gym and were playing Volleyball and Basketball. We met a young man named Seth who had known Greg from FC Camps (Greg is a counselor at the junior camp). He has been in Houston for a week and would be attending at Bellaire Church of Christ. OK? Park that piece of information for a moment.

That night we ate at Pappadeaux’s we had an engaging young waitress and when she served our meal Mark asked her if she would like to pray with us and asked me to lead the prayer. During the course of the meal Mark started talking to her about Jesus and she accepted an invitation to come to mom’s house for a Bible study. Lo and behold she showed up the next day and Mark did his lesson “The Big Picture”. Greg commented to her that she was very daring to come to a stranger’s house for a Bible study and she replied she had been praying to God for help and saw it as an answer to her prayers. She was not ready to make a commitment at that time because, as she put it, she had some things in her life she wasn’t ready to give up yet.

The next day, Greg, Scott and I were working outside on some projects that mom had for us and Mark did his Bible study with Charlie and Charlotte. To be fair, Charlie and Charlotte had been talking about being baptized but hesitated to because they didn’t have a way to church. After the lesson Mark came to where we were and said that Charlie and Charlotte wanted to be baptized but were hesitant because they didn’t have a way to go to church services… the same problem.

Now get this… Mark said he had talked to Seth (the basketball player we had met the day before) and he had agreed to give them rides to Bellaire. He made a quick call to Seth who confirmed that he could give them rides. Then we went next door and baptized them in the neighbor’s pool.

That my friends is “5 Talent” thinking. Mark knew that Charlie and Charlotte were interested. He met the guy at the gym, got his phone number and mentioned he might need a ride for Charlie and Charlotte and then engaged Charlie and Charlotte in the Bible class. Mark was told a year ago that he had 1-2 two years to live. With your prayers and the doctor’s treatment he is doing much better. He said he went from preparing himself to die to preparing himself to live. My brother Scott says the best thing about Mark’s illness is that the three brothers are getting together again on a regular basis and of course Mark is like a fourth brother. Thanks you God for blessing Mark and for the great things he is doing for our family.