I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
This Sunday our church did a going away service for us! So Sweet! I wasn't able to hear much of it because J had a melt down.;-) Our pastors wife has heard our story of G when he was a little kid having a hard time when a lot was going on and saying "Too many decorations!" That meant too much going on for him. So after church Mrs. K said there were too many decorations for J!! Soo true. J didn't want all the attention on him and he didn't handle it well.
Our church, I tell people, has been a balm for us . . . a healing balm. We rejoice that the Lord brought us to their fellowship and we wonder at how they embraced us with open arms even though a lot of them have been together for so many years and their church was so peaceful before us! But despite the noise and craziness and bonds between them they welcomed us with open arms as we were!! This church and the people inside, may I say our church family (I've never in my adult life been able to say that) have come beside us and encouraged us, cheered us on! I was the young mother in the group and yet these moms encouraged me on . . . so positive. . . so kind even though they probably knew a better way!
I put the video above of P giving us a wonderful word of send off. Maybe it seems weird for me to post this for others to see but here people can see EXACTLY what I am talking about!! Babe joked today that the video is proof that nice things are said of us:-) This church and its people exist. . . with Christ-like love not self-serving dictates and actions. Babe and I felt like fainting before we came to this church. We needed a dose of Christ's love with cheerleaders beside us saying "you can do . . . God is in control . . . we're here too!" They helped us through one of the most difficult times in our lives when we were living in exhaustion and craziness. But you hear P say "we were going through it with you". THAT IS NOT A JOKE, THAT IS OUR CHURCH.
Babe got some clips from the morning. A friend at church got the whole service so I'll be able to watch it later! For weeks the kids have been preparing to sing and play the piano for this special day. Our wonderful and dear friend Mrs. W has worked A LOT with the kids through the years with music. We are so grateful for all the work and time she has spent teaching them. The kids have very much enjoyed her teaching and the songs and we will all miss her a lot. She is a dear friend and she helped us ENORMOUSLY this year . . . much prayer, listening, visiting, making me yummy homemade soup, buying us groceries, and on and on. She was forever helping us and I would say "but you're so busy" and she would say "You know what they say if you want something done you ask the busiest person." Well, finally I got a chance to try and give back a fraction of what she had done, not even coming close, and she says "but you're so busy" . . . :-0 I took joy in reminding her that a wise woman once said "You know what they say if you want something done you asked the busiest person.":-)
We are going to miss our church A LOT! This church has given us Christ-like love beyond belief. They are GEMS. They lifted us up and now are sending us on our way. Our church family always had an encouraging word for us, smiles, hugs, and prayers for our family.
They sent us off showered in gifts: first Bibles for the twins, Bible games, verse plaque, encouraging plaques, sidewalk chalk, Oh and $400 to buy something special for our new house!!! Seriously. Oh and then they took us out for a VERY NICE lunch at a VERY NICE restaurant!! We had a wonderful time of fellowship. It was so fun. Mrs. W had helped the kids put together a very special card for Daddy for Father's Day with pictures and memories of the kids. MR. W gave the kids an AMAZING gift. About 50 years ago when he was plowing a field he found a very large indian spearhead in SUPER shape. He knew "A" loved all things Indian and so he gave it to all the kids. It is quite the piece and Babe said it is really museum quality.
No comments:
Post a Comment