pruning boy #007: heart exposure

On the job recently, I ran into the most unlikely person. Perhaps all of life’s encounters are predestined or part of some great big “plan”. I don’t know. But this one was very weird for me, and thus the last person on earth I’d expect to see while pruning trees in the fair mother city.

The tree business I work for was out checking on a couple of tree trimming jobs for a local church. This church owns several houses across town and uses them to house missionaries on furlough.

It turned out that the jobs were way too big for us to do as we lacked specialized equipment and man-power. But anyway, in one of these house’s was Mandy Key.

Mandy and her husband Jack go way WAY back with Agent Wife and I at the very start of our missionary/secret agent journey via the izzy group eight years ago. We studied through Ruby Payne’s “Framework For Understanding Poverty” together with The Bossman and his wife and another family.

The Keys ended up going one route in their missionary lives and we went another: the exact opposite of each other.

I was shocked to see her since last I had heard they were on the other side of the world in some kind of over seas mission role. She says they’ve been here for several months and were flying back next week. I had hoped we could all get together for dinner or something and thus, handed her a card with my phone number. She in turn grabbed a bunch of newsletters, photo CD, and what I’d consider missionary sales packet info and handed it to me.

I don’t know what to make of anything anymore.

I mean...I’ve long been critical of missionaries who live like this. I am a huge proponent against: 1) having a home/support church that you have to kiss ass to just to do your work and financially survive. 2) newsletters, with fun little write-ups and cute pictures of yourself doing “good works” (which is the antithesis of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:1-4) and 3) being the home-town missionary heroes out on “the field”.

But really, who the hell am I to criticize anyone’s method of sharing the gospel?

Heart exposed. Today has been a lousy day. Encouragement needed please.

I don’t know anything anymore. Things seem to be going well for the Keys. And they deserve that because they had a desert experience of their own for years. I wish them the best. Forgive my cynicism and misunderstandings, CEO.

I guess I should continue ahead, wearing my uniform hat and shirt made out of some material that feels almost like burlap, and prune trees.

Yet I know I am supposed to be doing this. I had a dream on February 26 that Mr. Mackey (neighbor across the street who is a carpenter) was building some doors on my house for me “to go through”.

Two hours later that morning Mr. Mackey was standing on my porch ringing my doorbell with his friend The Son (my current boss). He wanted to introduce us since The Son was looking for help with his tree business.

Weird coincidence maybe. But the CEO has often communicated to me through dreams over the years. Or so indicates my dream journal I’ve kept since 1992. I don’t ever change the course of my life based on a dream. But this tree gig just sort of came up and I needed it.

CEO – I’d love a new direction or a new door to enter through. Or maybe a new dream.