What a great day!

Sunday was full day, but I can't think of one I've enjoyed more. I got to sleep in a little since we didn't have Sunday School, and that was a treat in itself. I ran a little later than I intended to getting to the church, but it wasn't so much from sleeping late as from waiting for Terri's casseroles to come out of the oven. One of those, a potato casserole, was gone by the time we got to the table. I guess she'll have to make another just for us. It's good knowing someone enjoyed it though.

When I got to the church it was already a beehive of activity. The parking lot was about a quarter full, and BJ Marcum was running the hand cart shuttle back and forth from the kitchen to the parking lot, helping people get their food in. As I pushed passed BJ with a casserole in my hand, Peggy Wallace was busy adorning the serving tables with beautiful colorful tablecloths. After putting my casserole in the kitchen I headed off to the sanctuary to greet the Jordans, who had beaten me to church. They already had their equipment set up and were ready to go. The sanctuary was about one-third full at this time, with a steady stream of people pouring in. It was great to see our former pastor, Rev. and Mrs. James Brown sitting near the back on the right hand side.

I started to get a little nervous at about 10:15 when I didn't see Dr. Quick yet. I went outside and looked, and perspired a bit. Then I came back in and told someone I was nervous that he wasn't there yet. They pointed him out to me in the crowd. He had come in the front door while I was looking for him out the side door. When I finally got to greet him, it was a great reunion. As a former pastor of mine, I consider him not only a colleague, but a mentor and friend.

I can't say enough about the music. The congregational singing was good, Danny and the choir both did a wonderful job, and I could have listened to the Jordan's all day. They had so much energy in their music. I remember thinking as they sang, "Rock and Roll has nothing on good gospel music." The Jordan's truly rocked! There was one funny moment when David Jordan asked how many in the congregation could remember when they were saved. Nearly every hand went up. But Dr. Quick didn't raise his hand. He was writing on his bulletin, trying to remember as many names of our members from his childhood as possible. The lady sitting behind him tapped him on the shoulder and said, "You might want to raise your hand, if you plan to preach!"

He did raise his hand then, and boy did he ever preach! He brought a powerful message from Luke 4 about the rejection of Jesus by his hometown of Nazareth. He challenged us that every time we disobey him, every time we refuse to submit to his claims on our life, we are rejecting him too. He challenged those who had never received him to accept him. He challenged those who were Christians to quit playing church and get "plugged in." Although a few came to the altar to pray during the invitation, we didn't have any public decisions. However, I did have a young man tell me later in the day that he had prayed to receive Christ during the service. That alone made it a great day!

After the service we moved out to the end of our parking lot for our groundbreaking ceremony. Three of our charter members, Beulah Self, Jane Hicks, and Claudine Ballard helped us turn dirt with a shovel as we prayed over that ground and asked God's blessing on it, and provision for it. The ladies did such a good job that David West suggested we just let them go ahead and dig the footing!

We had such a great crowd, that there was a long line out the door of the fellowship hall to get to the serving tables. Terri and I brought up the rear of the line, but there was still an ample supply of great things to eat when we came through. Thanks to all who cooked, served, decorated and cleaned. Thanks to those who took the time to set up and break down tables. When we finally finished eating, cleaning and moving tables and chairs back where they needed to be, our day was only about half over. We still had much more planned for the day.

On the way home from the church, Jon called us from Basic Training. He usually calls the house on Sunday afternoon, and he had already called and we weren't home yet. He got to talk longer than usual this time. He said that he had a good week. At his request we had mailed him a Georgia road map. He said he unfolded the map and just stared at Hampton for several minutes. You think he might be a little homesick?

When we got off the phone with Jonathon, we changed into some more casual clothes and hopped right back in the car. We drove south two hours to my mother's home in Eastman. We picked her up and took her to the First Baptist Church of Eastman. After an inspiring evening worship service the church had a "peanut boil" fellowship. If you are reading this and aren't from the South, you may have never heard of boiled peanuts. They are very popular down here, and the fellowship was a lot of fun. I saw mostly people I didn't know, who had come to the church in the 25 years since I left there. But I saw quite a few familiar faces too. A pharmacist who had been willing to drive into town and let us get medicine for Catherine at midnight when she was a baby. Two girls I had gone to high school and marched in the band with for several years. A former prayer partner who just had his first child, in his forties!

Of course, of all the familiar faces, the best one was Mom's. We didn't get but a couple of hours with her. But two hours of "face time" beats a whole day of talking on the telephone. It was great to see her smile, to be able to give her a hug and a kiss. One man came by to greet us. When I told him how Mom had drug me there each week when I was a kid, he told me he had the same kind of "drug problem" when he was a kid too. That man just celebrated his ninth year as the youth minister there! Keep dragging those kids to church parents. Continual exposure to the Word does make an impact, even when they don't want to be there!

Well, it's almost midnight, and tomorrow is another full day. We'll be serving at the Calvary Refuge Center homeless shelter in Forest Park. Dinner starts at 7:00. I hope I see you there!