Okay, so he wasn’t really Larry Boy from Veggie Tales. But I don’t think I would have been any happier to see him if he really was. Some people make your day just by standing there. This is the story of how God used a rather random misunderstanding and Larry Boy (who wasn’t really Larry Boy) to make my day.
On Saturday, I was invited to sing at a “Celebrate Recovery” meeting at the E-Free church. So, I packed up my music binder, made sure all the rubber duckies on my dashboard had their seatbelts on, and drove to the booming metropolis of Grand Island. Arrived at the church two minutes before schedule, which is pretty impressive, being as I’m a Johnson and all. Went to the front door and confidently pulled. Uh-oh. The door was locked. Never one to give up in the face of a challenge, I immediately investigated the strength of my fist. Turns out I am not capable of breaking down a door. “Open sesame” didn’t work either. Tried all nine doors into that church, and they were all nine locked. Well, huh. Oh, and did I mention I’d forgotten my cell phone at home?
Waited around for ten minutes or so, but no one showed up. Discovered around that time that I could use a restroom, so I drove to a nearby park. Walked into the rather eerie-looking facilities, took a glance up at the cobweb-covered ceiling, and began scribbling a mental list of the top ten reasons churches should never lock their doors. Went back to the church to wait around a while longer, and, wouldn’t you know it, somebody finally showed up! Only they didn’t have a key. Neither did the next people. But finally someone came who wasn’t going to have to pick the lock to get us in. I was ready to go.
Only when I started asking, the small group of perfectly nice perfect strangers didn’t seem to know what I was doing there. “So, you’re singing tonight? Oh. Huh.” “We’re just setting up for an ice cream party and a movie afterwards.” “You need a keyboard. Um, I don’t think we have one of those.” Stuff like that. Finally, in desperation, I brought up the name of my contact guy, the man I’d talked to in setting all this up. “Uh, do you know a Larry?”
Enter, Larry Boy from Veggie Tales.
“Larry? Hm. Sounds familiar . . .” Well, five minutes later, we established that, not only did we know the same Larry (who, incidentally, wasn’t a regular attendant at this particular “Celebrate Recovery” meeting), but he was also waiting a bit worriedly for me at the E-Free Church in Hastings. Not the booming metropolis of Grand Island.
Right church name. Wrong town. Don’t ever do that on your wedding day.
Half an hour later (and 1 ½ hours after I was supposed to show up), I pulled into the E-Free church in Hastings, shook hands with Larry and a few others, sat down at the keyboard, and played away. Turned out to be a great meeting. I was able to share several different songs - including the one I had recorded. Signed a few of the CDs afterwards (trying to explain that I really wasn’t that famous), and the first lady whose CD I signed let me keep her pen. That made me smile. Met an old friend of my parents who dropped a $100 bill in my hand. That blew me away. Got home to find another $100 check from the church. I could be a millionaire, and I wouldn’t be any happier.
Not that money is the point. Even shaking hands with Larry (who wasn’t really Larry Boy from Veggie Tales) isn’t what made my day. No, but seeing how God works - how He can take some completely random, potentially frustrating misunderstanding and turn it into something beautiful and hilarious - now that made my day.
