Tied Statue

Recall a time when you were quite “tongue-tied” or speechless. What happened? How did you recover? (Serendipity Bible Fourth Edition, page 1147).

I suspect I was about 13 years old at the time living at Ellenton, Fl.  The Methodist Youth Fellowship (the MYF) met every Sunday evening and it was my turn to have the devotion. It was just a small group of us, maybe eight or so, but I was terrified, literally terrified, to stand up and give the devotion – which was merely a reading from the Upper Room.  I stood stiffly with my eyes fixed upon the shaking page of the book and sweating profusely. I had everything going for me you might say: I was on home turf, in my home church, among friends, in an informal atmosphere, before a small group I knew well. This snapshot of me frozen before a small, informal, friendly group speaks reams about my personality at the time. At this time of year, people often pose the question “Would you like to be young again?” I can answer “definitely not!” unless I can have the perspective I now have of my place in the world.

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