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How I Became an Emmaus Poster Child
How I surrendered and finally committed to actually attend a Walk is a story all in itself. Suffice to say, after years of rejecting countless offers of pastors and friends to sponsor me I consented to an absolute stranger one evening, at a funeral home of all places! Little did I know how God would use this retiring, soft-spoken stranger to forever change my life. As in all things Emmaus, it’s best not to anticipate.
The spring Walks had just concluded in 2005 when I encountered a divine appointment in the funeral parlor. So, the stranger invited me to meet with both he and his reunion group each Saturday at a local park. They all knew something that I didn’t and wouldn’t find out about for 6 months. Again, don’t anticipate!
One day in the fall, my sponsor picked me up and transported me to the Tanglewood Christian Camp and pointed out the church he had served as pastor in Lexington decades before. I had lots of feelings of trepidation about this spiritual retreat because I had been fighting my own call to ministry for several years. Suffice to say, God had His way with my obstinacy during dying moments where I found myself reduced to a sobbing mess at the altar rail.
Then in that moment, God sent another person into my life. My assistant table leader knelt down beside me, put his arm around me, and began crying even louder than me! Little did I know that we would later be enrolled in the same certified lay ministry class together, beginning a bond we still share today as fellow board members of Cross Roads two decades later.
Of course, there is MUCH more to this story. But rather than share any more of mine I would invite you to reflect on the transformative agape love you experienced on your own walk and what that means to you today. Who knows? – maybe you could be called to be an Emmaus poster child too!
De Colores!
Eric Dehmer
Walk # 62
Table of Matthew
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