Ninth Floor Apartment

Our apartment is on the ninth floor of a nine floor apartment building. Luckily, we have an elevator that services our needs quite nicely, even though it is the smallest elevator I have ever seen. Above the first floor entrance to the elevator is a sign in Russian. I can't read Russian. But apparently it says that the elevator only works between certain hours, those being from 8 am to 11 pm. Last night I got in at 11:20 pm, but the elevator was still working. I successfully avoided the 8 story climb.

Tonight, however, was a blessedly different story. Let me back up a bit to tell the semi-saga.

About the same time I was blissfully riding the elevator to my ninth floor apartment, our guy team leader was experiencing a different emotion. Each apartment has only been provided with one key, and Eric, being the kind of guy that he is, gave it to one of the other guys staying in that fifth floor apartment so they could have more freedom. But Eric couldn't get ahold of the guy with the key, and no one was answering the now continually ringing apartment phone. By midnight, they were getting really worried about the guy with the key, since he really is quite the reliable fellow. Hoping he wasn't "face down somewhere" in the city, Eric started to get pretty worried. So Eric woke up the apartment manager and had him open the door. But it was dead-bolted from the inside. Turns out the guy with the key is a bit of a heavy sleeper. And by "a bit of a heavy sleeper," I mean he slept through pounding and banging on the door along with the ringing of the airplane-volume-phone, which was literally next to his head, ringing off the hook. But they eventually managed to break into the apartment and two hours later started to get some sleep. But it was rough for Eric, since he is a team leader responsible for safety. For a while, he didn't know what to think. It could have been a scary situation.

So on to tonight. I stepped into our building at 11:30 pm. I push the elevator call button (no up or down, just one single call button), but no dice. Power off. So I begin the ascent up the many stairs. Nine floors is a long way. It got me thinking. If we look all the way to the end of our lives, it seems like a long trip, impossible to navigate. But if we look to God each step along the way, he orders the path. Just like my stairs. Praying over each one, I hit the fifth floor. There, sitting on the cold steps next to his apartment, was Eric. He asked if I had seen either of the guys staying in his apartment, and I told him I had not. He dejectedly looked back down to his book. Admittedly, I was not terribly sympathetic to his plight the night before. Not because I didn't care, but because I had been woken up every 5 to 10 minutes for two hours the night before by knockings on our apartment door and ringings of our apartment phone. But this time somehow, my response was a bit different. I offered him a spot in our apartment to sleep. I then convinced him to take my bed, as I would be up writing on my computer as I am now. After changing into some of my shorts, he laid down and immediately achieved his current sleep state.

I want you guys to pray for him right now for a couple of minutes, if you would. As a team leader, he doesn't get as much contact with the students but has to spend a good deal of time just planning the uninteresting details of the trip. Those details are what allow us to go out and share the Gospel. Not having any way into his apartment really seems to be taking its toll on him. Dejected really seems like the right word. Pray that God would fill him, and that he would be energized inexplicably when he awakes tomorrow morning.

Also, please pray for my health. I've had what seems like a cold for several days now, and have taken Dayquil, Nyquil, and some native concoction I don't wish to ever taste or smell again. Pray that it would just be a cold, and that I would be able to get over it. But it isn't all that terrible. Other than being quite tired at the end of each day and trying to deal with my new status as a snot factory, it hasn't been rough. Continued strength would be another good thing to ask for if I am to remain with my new cold friend.

It's been two years since I've been Filled like this.

Entry posted by byscuits on January 4, 2005 01:34 PM

Comments

Comment posted by yentl at January 4, 2005 02:11 PM

Comment posted by barthman at January 4, 2005 10:57 PM

Comment posted by Brian Ellis at January 5, 2005 12:21 AM

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