The joy of interrupted preaching

There I was, minding my own business, when I was blindsided by an unexpected interruption I didn’t have time to deal with.

I was in the middle of preaching a sermon this morning. Ironically enough, I was making the point that God often interrupts our normal routines to teach us about himself. All of a sudden, an IM chat box pops up on my computer, and through the miracle of PowerPoint and digital projectors, it is on the screen in front of the congregation. It’s my daughter, Amanda, in Nairobi, Kenya, wanting to chat! ;-} (She is 10 hours ahead and didn’t realize where I was and what I was doing.) 

I closed the chat box and explained to the congregation what it was and that Amanda and I had been chatting at that same time the past few days. I hoped that by ignoring her message, she would get the hint that I was not available.

But no, a few minutes later, a second box pops up with the message, “Oh, you must be preaching.” I typed in “Yes” and sent the message and then closed the box a second time. I think a few people in the congregation wished I stopped preaching and started chatting with Amanda.

In all the years I have used PowerPoint in preaching, that’s the first time that has happened. Guess I will have to turn off the Wi-Fi from now on.

Oh well, it gave people a good chuckle. One person commented that it showed how connected I was to my kids. That’s not a bad outcome for an interruption.