Trust in Marathon Florida

Equipment to be loaded at Community UMC; Marathon, FL

Trust Quartet got back Sunday night from a trip to Marathon, FL. This is one of the longer trips we annually take and its always good to be with the folks at Community United Methodist Church there. Pastor Peggy has been a long time friend of Trust; in fact, it could be said she's a life-time friend of Trust. She has been friends with Buzz and Beverly since before Trust was started! It was good to have her sing a song with us again this year, too!

Trust also has a bit of a tradition of doing the picnic thing on the way down south. We have a particular road side picnic table that we have claimed and make it our practice to eat a sandwich there every year. After our annual picnic, we head on to Marathon and set up for the concert. This year, we were fortunate to have Jeff and Rhonda's son, Cody, with us on Saturday night. He lives in the area and his schedule worked out to be with us for a bit. I think his folks were pretty excited to see him!

The concert Sunday morning was, ummm, interesting. For a while it seemed that if it could go wrong, it would. I think the devil was in the technical issues! For all our rehearsal and sound checks to have gone so smoothly, the concert had its issues. But honesty compels me to say that God is much bigger than the technical issues! While we really strive to accomplish as much as possible to provide an enjoyable musical experience, we strive much more to have God present with us. Friend, God was present at Community United Methodist Church in Marathon, FL Sunday!

The church was filled and folks were standing along the back wall. As the church welcomed first time guests, I turned around from my seat on the front pew to see several acknowledge they were there for the very first time. I learned later that one of the couples I had seen standing during that time was from The Netherlands. They told us they heard about Trust being in Marathon and booked airline tickets to come hear us. (Don't tell Buzz, but I think they were joking when they said that part.)

They told us seriously though, they were a bit disillusioned with their current religion and were excited to hear about the message of Jesus they heard Sunday. What a joy to hear of what the power of God can do through the ministry of His Word and song!

During the concert, while introducing a song, I made reference to the man speaking to Jesus about his son who was very ill. His statement to Jesus, "Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief," actually came out of my mouth and I had no idea why. I have never, I repeat NEVER used that Scripture to introduce a song that we sing. Honestly it scared me, because I was then trying to figure out how I was going to get to the point I wanted to make before singing the song. While going around my elbow to get to my thumb, I finally was able to get to the song.

After the concert, a dear lady approached me and mentioned how she enjoyed the concert. Then she looked me squarely in the eye, and told me the one thing that spoke to her the most was my statement about, "Help my unbelief." Chills went up my spine as I recalled my own feelings of insecurity while introducing a song.

Yes, dear friends, God was in the middle of that church Sunday morning! What an honor to be in God's presence and be willing vessels to accomplish His purpose in lives. THAT is why we do what we do!

On the way back home, we were able to stop alongside the road where the water is on both sides of the road. We took some time to enjoy God's amazing creation and took some pictures while we were stopped. God has been so good to us, and we can only give Him the glory for all He chooses to accomplish through us.

Thank you for continuing to pray for the ministry of Trust Quartet.