"I don't know where I am,
I don't know where I'm going,
But I know that You are with me."
How appropriate for these words (translated from German) to be on the screen in front of me. When I arrived at the church a couple of minutes early--at least I thought--I could hear the voice of a German speaker coming from the sanctuary giving announcements as I saw a chalkboard that greeted me with "Herzlich Willkommen" in the hallway. Strange...since the service was supposed to start in a minute or so and be in English. There was a guy who looked like he'd also just entered and was waiting for a pause before he continued. I asked, "Is this IPC?," the church that is supposed to meet there every Sunday evening except the last. Nope, and yet I followed him in anyway, finding a seat by myself in the back. My thoughts were racing with questions about what day of the week it was, what time of day, which Sunday of the month; but the answers all seemed on target as I joined in some of the songs in German, including the one with the words above. It was almost comical to be singing this song, which I really like and can relate to on more levels than one. After 20 minutes, the service ended; and I decided to slide out hopefully less conspicuously than I'd entered.
As I exited the large, heavy door and began to cross the street, I noticed that the door of the reformed French church across the street appeared to be open. It's where IPC meets in the mornings and the last Sunday of the month. Without missing a beat, I walked in and heard the singing in English and joined the service that normally meets in the other building, but didn't tonight! I would've felt bad for being 20 minutes late, but I wasn't the only one...and how could we know?
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| Photo by Roland from creativecommons.org |
In fact, one lady came in 5 minutes before the service was over and asked to sit next to me. Sure. Then she wanted to share the bulletin to sing a really difficult hymn that I'd rather no one had heard me. After both of us struggled through and I was feeling relieved to stop singing, she said what a beautiful hymn it was, ha! As we chatted after the service, would you believe that though from South America, she once lived in Florida and attended Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church? I told her that's where the organization I work with was founded! We chatted about where she's lived and also where I've been and where I'm going. Last night was one of those nights that the oddness of my life felt strong as I just got here and yet will leave again in a couple of weeks. I suppose that He knew my thoughts and in His perfect ways, answered my prayer "to be in the right place at the right time" by getting me to what I considered the wrong place just so I could hear those words:
"I don't know where I am,
I don't know where I'm going,
But I know that You are with me."
