We last saw our dear friends David and Anne Gray on 14 March 2017, well over four years ago. You can read about that encounter in an earlier post. David had just survived an aortic rupture, one that brought him as close to the brink of death as it’s possible to get, and he was just beginning the long road to recovery.

Well over four years on, David and Anne were having a holiday in their caravan at Wareham Forest, and they thoughtfully instigated a visit to us. It’s one of the amazing things about being in God’s family, believers can get together after years apart, and just pick up from where they left off. So it was for us. It really was as if we’d last seen each other just a week or so ago.

Of course, so much has happened since then. Their son, Tom, has moved out and purchased his own home in Newport, South Wales. I’d thought he was in his early 20’s, but no, in reality Tom is now 29. Time moves at such a pace.

On the last occasion we got together, I suppose it was in order that we might minister to our friends. They’d be through a terrible ordeal, one that in reality was, at the time, only just beginning. They had been so amazing to us at the difficult close to our ministry in Cirencester, the very least we could do was to reach out to them in the time of their need.

This meeting was meant to be a friendly catch-up, with no agenda, no ministry purpose. Little did David and Anne know, that it was the two of us that were once again in great need.

Over the past few weeks, my many health issues have all flared-up at the same time and, at the time of writing, I’m waiting for four separate clinical referrals. Any one of them has the potential to bring my ministry to an early close, coming together as they have represents a significant challenge to the sustainability of my current, or indeed any, pastorate.

So, it was precisely the right time for God to arrange for us another encounter with David and Anne. His timing is always perfect. We discovered that over the past more than four years, they have fought and won many battles with the various statutory authorities. As a result, they now know the system inside out, and couldn’t be better placed to advise us, during our time of need. Over lunch in the garden, with our new puppy at our feet, these two dear folk gently opened our minds to possibilities that we hadn’t previously entertained.

I always knew that David had exceptional pastoral skills. I never told him at the time, of course. I was far too proud. But it was obvious that this gentle welsh Methodist minister, was a man of hidden depths. When we left our pastorate in Cirencester, one of the most difficult chapters in our lives and precipitated again by another crisis in my health, David gave me as a parting gift a leather-bound Methodist hymn book. It is one of my most treasured possessions and contains a rich resource of devotional material.

So it was no surprise to learn that David, having come back from the brink, had discovered God’s new purpose for his own ministry. I’d had an inkling that this was going to happen on our last meeting, but couldn’t see what was in store. David’s recent appointment as an Area Superintendent in his beloved Methodist denomination is perfect for him. The Methodist church is blessed to have him. More perfect still, is David’s decision to undertake training at Sarum College in Salisbury to work as a Spiritual Director. It’s hard to imagine any one better qualified, and better experienced in life, to offer spiritual direction to others. I’d have no hesitation in seeking his counsel, and any one who is fortunate enough to find themselves under his care will be privileged indeed.

Our lovely afternoon together drew to a close at around 4pm. I was beginning to flag, and David, ever the pastor, determined that it was time to go. It was at that point that he said “let’s have a prayer together”. Then, this man of God, whom God has entrusted with terrifying trials of his own, opened his heart to the Lord on our behalf. I found David’s prayer almost too much to cope with. His insight, generosity, grace and abounding kindness truly overwhelmed me. Of course, it wasn’t David at all, it was the Holy Spirit, whom we all rely upon to direct our lives into all grace and truth.

Then the two of them climbed back into their Motability car (that’s another story entirely) and drove off leaving behind them a trail of the fragrance of Christ. We promised each other that it wouldn’t be as long next time, and they assured us of their availability to help as we attempt to navigate the uncertain path that lies ahead.

After they had gone, we took Jack for his early evening walk in the late afternoon sunshine and marvelled at the inscrutable ways of our amazing God. Well, I say inscrutable, God’s ways are beyond human understanding but the longer we journey with him the more we recognise his hand graciously directing all things.

Let’s pray that it isn’t another four plus years before we cross paths with David and Anne again. I have a sense that it won’t be, and I’m incredibly grateful to God for that.

I’d encourage anyone to follow David’s blog. It’s a rich seam of deep insights – http://notanormalvicar.blogspot.com