I Meet Carlo

Our home had weekly gatherings with many young people. Our lives were captivated by our newly found relationship with the living God. He wasn't dead to any of us. He was leading us and moving in our heart. My phone was always ringing with requests for prayer or questions from those in our group. I was spending hours upon hours reading scripture. I even started paraphrasing the gospel of Matthew so that I could understand it better. I remember lying in my bed at night wondering what God was going to do next. The expectation was very high for all of us and we were so willing to embrace the world around us.

We heard of an older gentleman that owned a gas station on top of the hill in Follansbee. His name was Carlo. Apparently He had a gathering going on in his home of former church goers. His group was much older than ours. I remember Norma telling me that Carlo and his wife nancy were anxious to meet with me. I decided one day to introduce myself to Carlo and so I stopped into his gas station and ask for him. He was a very tall fellow about 6'4". He was in about his early 40's maybe. He started talking to me with a great deal of fervor. He seemed very passionate about what he was doing. He seemed very driven. I wasn't sure about Carlo. He seemed like he had a good heart and at the same time I felt like I was being recruited by him. It sounded like he didn't have enough young people in his group. That made us a target for him. That's what it felt like anyway. I was almost 20 years younger than Carlo and so he was an imposing figure to me. All I wanted to do that day was meet him but he seemed to drop every thing that he was doing to concentrate on me.

Eventually I broke from Carlo and headed home but my head was on overload. Was God speaking to me through this man? Was I supposed to help him with his need? Would it be a good idea for us to hang around with some mature Christians? All those thoughts were running rampant through my mind and yet all I intended to do that day was to stop by and say hello. I was confused some by the whole thing. I had these two feelings going on at the same time. I wanted to pursue the idea of getting together with Carlo's group and at the same time I wanted to stay away because I didn't want to interrupt the beautiful thing that God was doing with our fellowship. Uneasiness began to fill my heart for the first time since I came to the Lord. I couldn't see what was coming.The next part of my journey was going to be difficult and I had no idea. Lessons were soon to learned the hard way.

next up......

The Merger