Last year, today, David and Ian were filming their last installment of “Drowning Melville.”, in Louisville, KY, at New Attitude, a conference sponsored by Sovereign Grace Ministries. If you haven’t seen it, you should. You’ll see Ian at his acting, funniest best. The address is:

savethewheel.com/melville

I remember how stressed David was about it. They, both, worked so hard to get it filmed, edited and finished, and then they never had time to show it at the conference! I doubt that Ian was as stressed as David. He was, always, pretty relaxed about these things, which drove David crazy. They’re relationship has always had it’s rocks every now and then.

How could any of us ever dreamed that Ian wouldn’t be at New Attitude this year, and why he wouldn’t be there? Except One, of course. The Lord knew. He has always known exactly what He was going to do in Ian’s and his family’s life. And He still knows. He knows exactly what He’s going to do, right now, and exactly when He’s going to do it. He knows how long we will have to wait and He knows, more than any human that’s ever lived, how painful the waiting for His work is.

If anyone knows pain, it’s God. Most of us know it, occasionally, only in one lifetime, but He has known it for generation after generation. He has watched what sin does to His creation and His creatures ever since He created man and only He knows the depths of His own pain. God experiences pain, the Scriptures says, and He knows how to take care of His children who are in pain. Let’s pray for Murphy’s grief, this week-end, as they care for their son, who would be at New Attitude with his friends, if God hadn’t decided something else for him. He has permitted great pain to enter the Murphy’s family, for great purposes that we have no idea of. Let’s pray that God works wonders in Ian’s life, this week-end, as He works wonders at the conference.

kristi