Graduation and what is that?

What a great day! It started at six when I went to open the gate to let the guard out. We have been employing a night guard since thieves tried to steal Judy"s bike. Any way as I let him out Rose comes to the gate to start cooking food for graduation. As I welcome her I realize Julie is already standing behind me with a bucket of charcoal. I've always felt that sometimes its best not to ask too many questions but this time I forgot that bit of wisdom and I asked,"How's your charcoal?" "It's wet." was her short answer. "I need parafin." I realize that she is trying to light the charcoal stove, a sigiri, and needs kerosene to make the wet charcoal ignite. No problem I'll get you some. Easier said than done. In the dark all the plastic jerrycans look alike and with my lack of a good nose (it's big yes but not good) I can't be sure if I'm grabbing diesel, petrol or parafin. So I take a small container to Julie and Rose. Rose looks at it and says "I can't smell either" and dumps it on the fire.

I have a new appreciation for God being beyond time and His knowing the past, present and future already. He obviously heard my prayer in that split second as it indeed turned out to be parafin and not gasoline. We did not go up in a ball of flame! Moral of the story: A Rose by any other name still can't smell for nothing.

After a morning of preparation graduation started only 10 minutes late and minus most of the guests. But the guys did graduate and each taught a passage of Scripture that God had laid on their hearts. It was fantastic. By two o'clock we were all cleaned up and the guys Jacob, Rogers, George and Joseph had packed their stuff and gone home. A great group of guys that Bev and I will miss terribly. But you have to let them go or the gospel never spreads.

Tonight after a dinner at a nearby guest house we (Bev, Ryan, Kelli and I) returned home about 9:15. I was checking the vehicles to be sure they were locked when I saw the most incredible sight! From the western horizon I saw a string of orange lights coming my way. At first I thought they were skyrockets from the 10th anniversary celebration from the guest house. Then I remembered, Tuesday night. As Bev and I were escorting Judy and Rochelle home after dinner we saw an orange light move from south to north on a fairly straight track. It wasn't airplane lights and I thought the light looked more like the glow of a jet exaust. I checked the internet later to see if it was something in space but NASA said nothing should be visible. I quickly forgot the matter until tonight.

With no moon the lights were quite bright and I ran yelling to Bev to come out as fast as she could. She thought someone had died but I told her to look up. The lights that had been in a straight line heading east were now in a curve and a diamond formation heading north. Bev's "Wow" was enough to tell me that I hadn't lost my mind. So we yelled for Kelli to come out quick and look up. Ryan heard the commotion, came out and saw it and then Kelli came out too. We all watched as the lights changed formations and disappeared to the north. I had counted them and there were ten in all. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in the sky.

It reminds me of the last line in the 50's sci-fi movie "The Thing" (which I consider Bev's and my "movie" since we watched on our first date) where the reporter says "Keep watching the Sky! Keep watching the sky!" You won't see UFOs but someday we will see Jesus! That will be the greatest thing any of us will ever see in the sky or elsewhere!