Our Final Sunday at Church in Colorado

Above is a song our music director sung for the sending off of our family . . . 

talk about a tear jerker!!!

I wanted to leave our church family with words of gratefulness and love so 

here is what I was able to speak as a farewell:

I have dragged my feet writing this note of thanks to you, our church family, not because of lack of gratefulness but because of being afraid of inadequate words to express our gratefulness. We have so much to thank this unique church family for! Each of you played a role in our encouragement: some of you prayed for us, others of you smiled and gave us warm greetings, some of you embraced and gave us hugs, some of you were always giving us words of encouragement and cheering us on, or maybe brought us food to nourish our bodies as well as our spirit, some worked with our children in Sunday School or music, some drove our children to and from church, some sent us birthday and other cards in the mail or sent us an email, some gave us gifts which will now become to us treasured memories of a wonderful church family. Each of you moved as some extension to the body of Christ and you worked together to pick our family up, embrace us, encourage us, and now today send us on. But we are leaving different than we came. We are now stronger for we have been spiritually nourished. We are not hanging our heads for we have been loved.
 
Psalm 27:13
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Thank you for your Christ like love and care. It has made a difference to this family and who knows the eternal differences it will make as our children grow and they remember the faith and love of a small church family who showed them a deep faith in Christ, a united church family, and an amazing Christ like love for others. They saw a Pastor who let the children come to him even a 2 year old wandering the aisle. And a pastor that could get up and solemnly preach God’s Word but also could laugh and joke and say “Oh, cut it out!" And a pastor who he and his wife came to share in the waiting during a surgery for support! They saw a music minister and his wife who were passionate and sensitive to the moving of Christ in their life and who encouraged them as children to use their small talents for the Lord even though they were inexperienced in music. They saw a pianist and a church handyman that were always looking for ways to make a difference not caring who got the credit just quietly serving the Lord and investing time into them as children showing them that they mattered. They saw a united church family who didn’t look for the worst in them as children but the best in them. Time and eternity will show the difference you made in these children’s lives. I TRULY believe the fruit is yet to come. It is also primarily because of YOU that the children don’t want to leave!!

My dad says this church has ruined us forever and he meant that in the nicest way. For he knows as, our family knows, that what is here at Calvary Church is something special and rare and we are blessed to have been touched by it. Thank you for last week and the special Sunday and the extremely generous gifts! And Pete and Pastor thank you very much for the kind and encouraging words. I wasn’t able to hear all that last Sunday as I was taking care of little ones but I got to hear more of some of last week from a video. Thank you. That video will be a beautiful reminder of what is here. Thank you Carol for video taping it!

Ecclesiastes 7:8 says:
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof:
It seems strange that the end of a good thing is better than the beginning but it is my belief that the reason the end of a good thing is better is it is then that we can look back and see the Goodness, Faithfulness, and Love of our Lord.
God is good all the time.
 
Thank you for everything. We love you ALL and will miss you much.

God Bless You All.

Kids and I sing song:
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I have life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave.