From the Pastor’s Heart

This past weekend, we had the blessing of watching our youngest granddaughter, Emmelia Joyce, for the weekend. June 29 will mark her 1st birthday. It is such fun to watch her grow and learn. She is now walking. She can say “Zeus,” her dog’s name, but “Pappy,” she hasn’t mastered yet! I put Emme in the stroller, and off we go for our long walks. They mostly consist of me saying over and over again…. “Say Pappy, say Pappy, Pappy….Pappy…Pappy…Pappy!” Her response is usually clapping her hands. YEA PAPPY!

I love being a father and grandfather. No titles are more meaningful or dearer to my heart than Daddy and Pappy. July 3 marks the day it all began. Let me explain.

Every 4th of July, the little town of Bessemer celebrated the holiday by bringing a carnival to town. It really wasn’t very big, but for the small surrounding towns of Hillsville and Mt. Jackson, it was a big deal, especially for the teenagers who walked the fair grounds numerous times and thought it to be the great social event of the year. It was the summer of 1971. I was going to be a senior in high school. I was one of the teenagers walking around when I spotted a couple of young girls. The one, I knew from high school. The other, I had never met. I stopped to chat. We talked and talked and talked. My interest was piqued, and I thought I would take a chance and asked the one girl if she needed a ride home. She flatly turned me down! But we made plans to meet at the carnival the next night. We walked around and around and around. As the evening was drawing to a close, I thought I would ask again, “Do you need a ride home?” (I am persistent, if nothing else.) She accepted the invitation. And as they say, “THE REST IS HISTORY!” Of course, the young 17 year-old was Nancy. July 3 will mark 40 years since that fateful night at the Bessemer carnival. Neither she nor I anticipated what that night might hold.

Nancy later told me she really didn’t want to go to the carnival that night. In fact, she said, “My mother had to push me out of the car!” Three daughters and four grandchildren… all because her mother pushed her out of the car.

It has been an amazing journey and continues to be so. Nancy did not marry a minister. That did not come until eight years after we were married. She has always been supportive, an amazing wife, mother and grandmother. We are all blessed because of her.

We are all on a journey. And along the way, we enter into relationships. The most important relationship any of us will ever encounter is our relationship with our Creator. Do you remember when your relationship with God began? Was it because your parents pushed you out of the car and made you go to Sunday school and church? Or maybe they pushed you out of the car and made you go to church camp, MYF, or VBS, and there, you met our God and for the first time experienced God’s unconditional love and grace.

If you are a parent/grandparent, don’t be afraid to push your children in the direction of God. Don’t be afraid to push them to have a relationship with the Almighty. It will be the beginning of an amazing journey. As in any relationship, it may have its ups and downs. But in the end, it will be the most precious and meaningful relationship you will ever experience.

Each of us has our own journey and story to tell. How is it with your soul? How is it with your relationship with God?

Blessings,

Pastor Russel