Last Sunday night, a group of church members from EBC, hosted a reception for Flora and I. We were so thankful that Bethany & Lindsay were able to attend. Courtney was pretty bummed that she had to work and could not make it. It was a wonderful opportunity to express our thanks to hundreds of people who had impacted our lives and allowed us the privilege to invest in theirs. Hartsville only has approx. 7,800 people in the city limits and approx. 30,000 in a 5 mile radius. I've told our congregation often that the most recent list of churches I saw had 154 churches registered in the 29550 zip code. That's 154 churches for less than 30,000 people. To bring that into perspective, there are more churches registered in the 29550 zip code than there were in Palm Beach County, FL when we moved here in 2002 (Population 1.4 million). BUT, here's what I realized... While people were free to attend any of those churches, they CHOSE to worship at Emmanuel Baptist Church and they CHOSE to allow me the honor and the privilege of serving as their pastor! They chose to let me minister to their family, they chose to sit under my preaching each week, they chose to serve alongside me, and they chose to help accomplish the vision that God had given me for EBC. That is an overwhelming and very humbling realization, and my sincerest thanks goes out to each of you.
During our time together last Sunday, people reminisced and shared stories of their salvation, baptism, and why or how God led them to Emmanuel. They shared stories of how God moved them to step out of their comfort zones and to engage in service and ministry opportunities. Some reminisced about the day I performed their wedding, dedicated their children, and/or buried a loved one. One man reminisced about how God restored his marriage, another couple shared a similar story, one couple spoke of how they turned from drugs to Jesus, a lady talked about God's healing after the death of her husband, another how he had been out of church for 30 years, a lady thanked me for taking a chance by employing her as she tried to get back on her feet after a job loss, and the stories went on! Another man, who is very dear to me, hugged me and said, "You know I don't usually hug men." Kids gave high-fives and fist bumps! There were tears in the eyes of our friends and in ours, we were able to thank God for the work that HE has accomplished during our sweet time at EBC.
When Flora and I returned home, we were physically and emotionally exhausted. There was a huge stack of cards, a box of notes, and gifts. We chose to delay opening them until the following night. On Monday night, the tears began to flow again as we opened cards and were so blessed by the generous gifts; but most of all by the sweet and kind words of people who have become our family. It was truly a manifestation of Proverbs 16:24, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." The kindness has continued through this week. Facebook notes, text messages, emails, phone calls, and visits by dozens of people who were out of town, working or unable to attend the event for various reasons. The love of SO many has been absolutely amazing and overwhelming!
I'll be mailing thank you cards and notes of appreciation in the future, but I want to publicly express my appreciation to those who coordinated that very special event for us. It was organized quickly, beautifully decorated, the food was tremendous (included our favorites), the picture board brought back so many memories, personalized signs were everywhere, and the guest line continued for almost 4 hours! We arrived early and started greeting people and continued talking to the late-comers as folks were cleaning up around us. Words cannot adequately express my appreciation, so I'll just keep repeating the words "THANK YOU" to everyone who coordinated and attended the reception. Thank you for all that you mean to my family... and for being our family! You truly made this Pastor and his family feel appreciated!
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