Lipstick kisses...

Well, I had a ‘first’ requested of me Tuesday evening by a 1st grader. I had made a trip up the road to Jonesboro, AR to meet with some of the ladies going to Venezuela with us in October of this year. As is my custom I spend the night in the home of some very dear ministry friends Jeff and Wendy Stotts, Jeff serves on staff at Central Baptist in Jonesboro, and Wendy, his wife, is going with us on the Venezuela trip. They have three children, Wade, Will, and Melody. Please note that Melody, while the last in the litter, is by far not the least. She would for sure be considered their strong willed child! Ever noticed how sometimes these little darling’s also have this cleverness and wittiness about them that keeps you torn between bringing harm to them or just trying not to let them see you laugh at how clever and witty they are! That would be Melody.

As usual when I arrived in their home Melody made her way to me. We have had a special bond for some time. I always know that from the time I hit the door until she goes to bed I will be Velcro and she will be stuck to me. Tuesday night was no exception. However, when it became bed time she made a very interesting request, “ Ms. Vickie will I see you in the morning? “ Answer, “No honey, I will be up and gone by 5:30 a.m. and you will still be a sleep.” “Well then would you leave a lipstick kiss on my forehand in the morning before you leave?” Hmmmmmmm “Ok” I replied. So, she went to bed with that promise tucked away in her mind. When I spend the night with Jeff and Wendy I get Melody’s room and she gets to sleep with mom and dad. I suspect she does that a lot no matter if someone is using her room or not (chuckle). Ok, making plans to prepare for this event the next morning I went to Jeff and Wendy and said, “Just wanted you to know I will be coming into your room in the morning before I leave to give Melody a lipstick kiss.” When I did this I noticed that they had a blow up mattress beside their bed and Melody was in it. Good, I thought. I can slide in, give her the lipstick kiss and slide out in the morning and not bother them. Jeff and I sat up and visited a while longer and then off to bed I went. At 4:30 a.m. the alarm went off and I got up, getting ready so I can make the 2 ½ - 3 hr. drive to Morrilton. Just before I get ready to walk out the door I put on my lipstick for the task. I made sure it was on good and thick. You know the Lord wants us to do all things with excellence. Why would a lipstick kiss be any different!
So, I opened the door to Jeff and Wendy’s room and it was soooooooo dark I couldn’t see a thing. Since I knew the general area of the blow up mattress from the night before I flipped open my cell phone to get a tad of light and horror of horrors Melody was not there! Of course it only took my brain less than a blink to know that the child was on the bed with mom and dad somewhere! Sooooooooo, I walk to the end of the bed and sure enough there she is, smack dab in the middle of mom and dad in this BIG KING SIZE bed! I ask you, should an almost 54 year old women have this kind of decision to make this early in the morning: Honor the lipstick kiss and for sure wake up both parents because I WILL HAVE to climb onto the bed to reach her or slip out and call it even? Right! Of course you can’t break a lipstick promise! Sooooooooooo, I climbed up in the bed and as I am trying to find her forehead amongst the blond locks of hair, Mom and Dad both are awaken! How stupid can I feel? Pretty stupid! However, I did finally get enough hair out of her face to put a lipstick kiss on her cheek. Mom and Dad smiled as much as you can at an intruder in your bed at that time of morning and I, finally having finished the task, head home. Now the big question is was it worth it? The answer came when later on in the day Wendy called me about some details for our Venezuela trip and also informed me that Melody went to the mirror when she got up to see if I had kept my lipstick kiss promise. Not seeing the lipstick kiss on her forehand she told her mom I hadn’t given her the kiss but then Mom pointed her in the direction of her cheek and there it was.

And there you have it…all is well that ends well! The lipstick kiss is what I call real ministry!

Keep praying for our 50 missionaries that will be attending the Venezuela retreat and the team as it continues to come together.



His,
Vickie