Okay...so I've linked to a few video blogs by my Pastor - he's a really awesome guy with a great sense of humor. Well, he's taking a few weeks off from preaching as we go through a series called One Prayer - we're getting messages by video from 4 different pastors around the country. Well, as I'm working with my 4 year olds on Sunday, Pastor Ritchie comes around to visit with us. We're in the middle of snack/story time and so it's a good point to take a break. He pokes his head in and asks how everyone's doing and one of my precious little boys, named Ethan, lets out this rip roaring burp like none I've ever heard before. Ethan smiles, giggles and then when he catches my eye says, "'Scuse me." I laugh, Pastor Ritchie starts laughing hysterically and says, "Well, it certainly sounds like you guys are having a blast in here." I say, "Well, it's always something new from one minute to the next!" Pastor Ritchie then asks how old these guys are and I told him they're all 4 and explain that we just promoted up a bunch of kids who're getting ready to go to kindergarten to Kids Town. Then I played this little game with the kids that I've been doing for a few weeks....I ask them if they'll still come back and see me when they get big and go off to Kids Town. They all start yelling "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" at the top of their lungs and I pretend I am crying because they'll leave me and never come back. I always have one or two...usually the girls....who'll say, "Miss Laura, we'll come back and see you because we love it here." Well, melt my heart....
Pastor Ritchie leaves and I can hear him laughing as he makes his way down the hall...I think we made his morning!
It's always something with those buggers....I wouldn't trade 'em for anything though!
Showing posts with label avalon church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avalon church. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Coolest Pastor on Earth
I have to tell you guys about my Pastor....Pastor Ritchie Miller. Besides the fact that he's not your "typical" pastoral type, he's just plain cool. He has a desire to reach out to folks who aren't your typical church-going type. He's actually driven to be a whole lot like Christ...is the best way. The way I see it, if Christ were on Earth today, he wouldn't be hanging out in the churches and cathedrals and such. He'd be hanging out in the bars and tattoo parlors and clubs trying to reach the people who really need to hear him. That's what Pastor Ritchie's goal is. I don't know that he really hangs in the bars, tattoo parlors and clubs - but I know that some of his congregation does. I know Pastor Ritchie has a deep calling to take light into the darkness and show the world that all Christians aren't the righteous, holier-than-thou Christians they think we are.
Friday morning, Pastor Ritchie was interviewed on The Giant Show on Project 9-6-1 here in Atlanta. Tomorrow, Pastor Ritchie will embark on a weeklong walk across Georgia...from South Carolina to Florida. He's raising money for his H.O.P.E ministry. It was an awesome interview and while he didn't "preach" to the guys on the show, he made a point. I have tried for days to figure out how to link to Ritchie's interview but I just can't make it happen.
Regardless, here's the first post from Pastor Ritchie's excursion across Georgia - hope ya'll enjoy - he's a riot.
Friday morning, Pastor Ritchie was interviewed on The Giant Show on Project 9-6-1 here in Atlanta. Tomorrow, Pastor Ritchie will embark on a weeklong walk across Georgia...from South Carolina to Florida. He's raising money for his H.O.P.E ministry. It was an awesome interview and while he didn't "preach" to the guys on the show, he made a point. I have tried for days to figure out how to link to Ritchie's interview but I just can't make it happen.
Regardless, here's the first post from Pastor Ritchie's excursion across Georgia - hope ya'll enjoy - he's a riot.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Feeling crappy....but feeling hopeful
Saturday was truly an amazing day. It started our fabulously...Shooter and I went to my favorite breakfast place where I got an amazing plate of stawberry french toast, applewood smoked bacon and coffee.
By Saturday afternoon I was starting to feel really crappy. I took a nap and woke up feeling better, so I headed off to see if I could find some wonderful bargains and a new Easter outfit. I got home and had started to feel bad again.
We were due at church at 5pm, Saturday night was our boxes of HOPE distribution. We were expecting 750 families to come to the church and I needed to get feeling better.
We got to the church and I ended up getting assigned to a group that I wasn't all that thrilled about. I ended up being assigned to the greeters group. I was very anxious about having to greet people and talk to them and the more I thought about it, the more anxious I got. I kept silently praying to myself and asking God to help me step out of my comfort zone.
In the end we didn't have nearly 750 families show up. But that's okay...God had something bigger in mind for all the leftover boxes. Shooter and I took five boxes with us and drove to three houses near where we live. The first was not so much of a house as a makeshift shanty. Johnny lived there. Johnny has hardly any teeth and is suffering from cancer. Johnny has a tarp strung between trees with a table and chairs underneath - and he sleeps in a van. Johnny has no job and relies on others to get by. Johnny really touched my heart. We also stopped at another house where a young man, probably in his early to mid-40's, lives taking care of his 85 year old parents - both of whom were in wheelchairs. Our final stop was at a home where the grandmother was home with 6 grandkids all under the age of 10. It was a tiny house and those babies had the biggest most beautiful brown eyes. Everyone we gave a box to was so thankful and you could see the bewilderment in their eyes...they didn't understand who we were or why we were at their house or why we were giving them a box of food.
Honestly, I couldn't have told them why we stopped at their house. We just did. We were just normal folks, thankful for what we have been given, passing that on to someone else.
By Saturday afternoon I was starting to feel really crappy. I took a nap and woke up feeling better, so I headed off to see if I could find some wonderful bargains and a new Easter outfit. I got home and had started to feel bad again.
We were due at church at 5pm, Saturday night was our boxes of HOPE distribution. We were expecting 750 families to come to the church and I needed to get feeling better.
We got to the church and I ended up getting assigned to a group that I wasn't all that thrilled about. I ended up being assigned to the greeters group. I was very anxious about having to greet people and talk to them and the more I thought about it, the more anxious I got. I kept silently praying to myself and asking God to help me step out of my comfort zone.
In the end we didn't have nearly 750 families show up. But that's okay...God had something bigger in mind for all the leftover boxes. Shooter and I took five boxes with us and drove to three houses near where we live. The first was not so much of a house as a makeshift shanty. Johnny lived there. Johnny has hardly any teeth and is suffering from cancer. Johnny has a tarp strung between trees with a table and chairs underneath - and he sleeps in a van. Johnny has no job and relies on others to get by. Johnny really touched my heart. We also stopped at another house where a young man, probably in his early to mid-40's, lives taking care of his 85 year old parents - both of whom were in wheelchairs. Our final stop was at a home where the grandmother was home with 6 grandkids all under the age of 10. It was a tiny house and those babies had the biggest most beautiful brown eyes. Everyone we gave a box to was so thankful and you could see the bewilderment in their eyes...they didn't understand who we were or why we were at their house or why we were giving them a box of food.
Honestly, I couldn't have told them why we stopped at their house. We just did. We were just normal folks, thankful for what we have been given, passing that on to someone else.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
H.O.P.E.
HOPE. It's kind of a simple word actually. But it's a very powerful word to me. I have the word HOPE tattooed on my wrist in Hebrew. It symbolizes my journey through depression and anxiety. It also symbolizes another journey, one I'm not quite ready to tell the world about. It also reminds me everyday of where my HOPE comes from - through Jesus Christ.
Yesterday, Shooter and I volunteered at our church, Avalon Church, and helped give out Boxes of HOPE for those families who are at risk and low income in Henry County. It was an amazing evening and certainly one that I cannot summarize in one post here.
Today, on Easter Sunday, I am finding myself very reflective and doing a lot of looking inward at myself. I feel like yesterday pushed me to be a better person and start taking steps to share the HOPE I have with others.
Happy Easter everyone....may you discover the true source of HOPE.
L.
Yesterday, Shooter and I volunteered at our church, Avalon Church, and helped give out Boxes of HOPE for those families who are at risk and low income in Henry County. It was an amazing evening and certainly one that I cannot summarize in one post here.
Today, on Easter Sunday, I am finding myself very reflective and doing a lot of looking inward at myself. I feel like yesterday pushed me to be a better person and start taking steps to share the HOPE I have with others.
Happy Easter everyone....may you discover the true source of HOPE.
L.
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