Another Parting Shot of Winter
I belong to the van ministry at our church. Occasionally I am the driver, but most often I ride shotgun and am a chaperone. We collect teens, youth, and adults who need a ride to church on Wednesday evenings. Depending on their schedules and their desire to come we may have as few as one person and up to perhaps nine passengers. It’s difficult to determine from week to week so we have a predetermined schedule and make the rounds to see who is going. The pick-up times may vary a little, but the kids know when to expect the van to pick them up.
Our variables occur when a new rider wants to join the group. This past Wednesday we needed to pick up a teen from Stahlstown. He is becoming a regular. We had a teen from Normalville who wanted a ride. She was an add on, a first time rider. It meant that we had to start our rounds fifteen minutes earlier so we wouldn’t arrive late for church or youth services. The drive to pick up the youth was no problem, although my driver often complains about the curvy mountain roads. He’s a “low-lander.” He has only a short drive to the main highways where there are painted traffic lines on the road. Our trip to the church was uneventful dodging only two deer. We made it just in time to the church, walking into the sanctuary just as the congregation began to sing the first hymn.
Instead of a sermon, our Pastor showed a DVD from a series on listening to the voice of God and the reason for our conscience. He’s still recovering from an upper respiratory tract infection. His voice is still hoarse and has episodes of coughing. He is on an antibiotic.
After services we gathered the van riders quickly. Usually we let them shoot hoops in the gym for about fifteen minutes, but not that evening. I knew the weather was about to change and preferred to get them home safely instead of delaying our departure time. It was a good thing we did. As we drove, the rain changed to sleet, then wet snow. The hour we were gone the grass and trees became covered in thick wet snow. The driver was fussing because he could only use the low beam headlights. The snow was falling quickly almost blinding him. The unpainted road became darker and more difficult to see. The closer our return trip to the church was, fog added to our woes. We managed to avoid another deer before we parked the van and headed for our homes.