A church home is a wonderful thing. It's interesting how being gone for almost two years allows friends to drift away. They should, I suppose. They need relationships that will help them - and that they can help - get through the struggles of daily life and share the joys of daily triumphs.
Going to our home church, Friendly (yes, Friendly - and they are VERY friendly folks!) we wondered if anyone would remember us. We hardly got through the door before men began coming up to John, joyfully shaking his hand and asking after us. We sat in our usual place and friends began catching sight of us and waving excitedly. One couple invited us out to eat after services today if we were still in town. My friend Julie I thought was not going to let me out of her hug - but the feeling was certainly mutual! There was very little I could tell her about our wanderings because she says she is a faithful reader of the blog. She even says I should have this puppy published in book form. LOL! No one loves me like Julie!
Our beloved pastor, Dale Perry, has moved on to an interim position at a cowboy church in Athens, Texas. (THOSE are some lucky church goers!) Bro. Dale is an amazing, wonderful, dedicated, Christian, pastor and preacher. We might even mosey on over to Athens just to hear him preach before we move on to our next contract...
The rest of the church staff is still at Friendly and things are running as smoothly as ever. We did see two churches in Tyler FOR SALE, so the fact that Friendly is still vibrant and baptizing is especially good. (Churches for sale. What is this world coming to? In all our years we've never see churches for sale!)
We've also attended our son's church here in Tyler, Sharon Baptist. We have lots of friends there, too. Once a month they have a free health clinic. Our daughter-in-law writes the newsletter for the clinic and helps out there during the clinic. She also teaches Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. Our son helps out around the church meeting some of the electrical and maintenance needs. They are also training together to run the sound booth.
God is good in so many ways. Giving us two church families here, one in Hawaii, and one in Virginia is blessing above and beyond any we ever imagined!
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