Dry but expectant, so...

...it must be Monday. That has been the rhythm of my weeks for as long as I can remember. It is late Monday night and I feel about as creative as a flannel graph from the seventies. Still, the weekly pressure looms. Sunday's message needs to be in the hands of the translator by Wednesday morning.
It still staggers me how positive the response has been since we began offering written copies of my messages on Sundays. Being an old radio dog apparently has some benefits. I teach pretty much straight from a manuscript; I have all along (despite the efforts of some to break me of it!). About two years ago, as God began to drastically transform the make-up of the church (with a staggering in-flux of "exploring Ecuadorians") we began making written copies of the day's message available for ESL folks as they came in on Sunday. They were more thrilled than we could have imagined; saying that being able to listen while following with their eyes was a major boost to their comprehension. Many mentioned how they would take the script home (or to the office) to keep going over it during the week -- and even share it with people around them. About three months ago we got the idea to tap the brilliance of our extremely bilingual secretary and began putting out the script in parallel, bilingual form -- side-by-side in English and Spanish. Response has stunned us; not only the gratitude of the people but the way many are spreading the messages around long after they leave here -- some even by leading their own Bible studies! Plus, many of the "gringos" are grateful to have the opportunity to continue to polish their Spanish.
We never could have guessed that God would use something like this as such a uniquely powerful tool. Between 100 and 150 scripts leave here every Sunday morning. Encouraging yet humbling and occasionally intimidating, especially when it involves getting a lesson written so early in the week. Still, literally every week I am stunned as God leads me from dryness to inspiration to insight to polishing to presentation. Ironically, even this blog feels as dry as dust. I suspect I will be back to it in the coming days, for a little more refinement...of me and of it!