Remember When Moments Part 1
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| House Family Dad, Mom, Jeremy, me, Jason 8/14/11 taken by my son Nate |
Given the seriousness of my mother in law's illness, I wasn't sure if I could join in the celebration. I asked some friends to pray that I would be able to join my family in this special celebration. Those prayers were answered. We didn't have a big party or anything like that. It was just a quiet afternoon of visiting and reminising with my parents and brothers about our childhood. I'll share those memories in the next blog entry.
We started the day attending the morning service at Central Baptist Church in Binghamton NY. I got to thinking how many Sundays are in 20+ years? It would probably take pages to recall all the special memories made in my countless hours spent there. Dr. Gil Parker, who is the current Interim Pastor and was filling in back in the mid 90's when I was still home, had a very encouraging message that included thoughts of "remember when moments." He spoke about how we can look back and see how God has worked in our lives. That was definitely the case throughout my years at Central both in the church and Central Baptist Christian Academy. He also talked about how God uses trials to show his love and care. That was especially encouraging with the trial our family is going through with the illness of my Mother in Law the past few months.
There are many things that have changed at the church, many dear Saints have gone to heaven. Many are older and shut in. There still are a few familiar faces left. Many are very close to 90 years old. It was such a blessing to see them still being faithful in attending church despite various health issues.
It was also encouraging to see some of the younger people I grew up with still attending the church. Keith Cole was a few years older than me, but he is still very involved with the church with his brother. Chris De Pue and his sister Sara were there with their little ones (their grandma Dorothy is one of those dear friends who is near 90 years old).
As I sat by my mom, my mind drifted back to many special memories. One was the day I was baptized in February of 1980. I was 10 years old. Sadly, the pastor who baptized me, Robert Monell, died a few years ago. That lead to thinking about my senior pastor for many years, Gorden Hay, who served at the church for 34 years. He's very ill in a nursing home now.
I also thought about the days of my family singing on the left hand side of the platform and my days of choir singing. Other memories of fun, laughter and a few tears came to mind also.
I have been blessed to have a Bible believing church to attend with many Godly people to guide me throughout my life. I don't know where I'd be without their help and support. Honestly, this blog has been a bit more difficult to write. I just have so many special memories to share. It's hard to boil them down to a few paragraphs. I am so sentimental it overwhelms me sometimes.
I'll close with this closing entry in my sermon notes yesterday morning (edited for grammatical errors)
"Look what He has done for me. Growing up her many people have seen me grow up since I was 2 years old. That's nearly 40 years! Yikes!"
Yes, some people have seen me at my best and at my worst, but I am so thankful for the many people God brought into my life, especially my parents. Thank you Lord!!!!
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