I Want To Go To There: Dad's 20th Anniversary @ GBC

Sometime around December I started getting some phone calls from an elder in my church from back home. This year was my family's 20th anniversary at Grace Bible Church. Its kinda hard to believe we moved to Washington when I was 8! The elders asked us to come and be a part of a special celebration honoring my dad's faithfulness to the ministry.

The timing was a little tricky. I was too pregnant to go on the actual date of the anniversary so we agreed to go at the end of April. We thought that Dallas would be born a few weeks earlier than he was so it gave us only two and a half weeks before we needed to fly up there. We drove to WA two weeks after Pen was born and it was really hard, this time wasn't quite as bad. I actually felt pretty good after this c-section and with the blessing from both my OB and Dallas's pediatritian we flew up there. It was actually a pretty awesome experience because they wheeled me from the ticket desk straight through security and to our gate. I got an entire row to myself with Dallas who was quiet and slept the entire time. I think it was probably my most relaxing flight in three years!

We got to my parent's house and my mom's reaction was absolutely hilarious. We laughed at this video of my mom squeaking probably about 50 times. Her voice gets so high its unreal!

Our time was really so sweet with the family and my grandparents were even up there for a couple of days too so that was an added bonus to be able to introduce them to Dallas.

The church went all out in honoring mom and dad and I cried my eyes out as the church recounted the goodness of God in bringing my parents to GBC. I know I talk about it too much but that church split really changed us as a family and as a church. God took something that was so ugly and devastating and turned it into something so incredibly beautiful. I am so thankful for that time of growth and that anniversary service just reiterated God's goodness in all of that.

Me and my siblings were given an opportunity to each share about my parents and how the church has blessed us these last 20 years. This is basically what I said...

I tried to convince my siblings that we should do each do a letter of an acronym for my dads name but I only got as far as "oval faced" for "o" so my idea got vetoed.

Seriously though, it's not difficult to come up with things to say about my sweet Papa.
It wasn't until I was in college that it occurred to me that there were kids out there who were ashamed of their parents. I thought my dad was the coolest guy I knew. I was always in awe of the wisdom and discernment God had given my dad and I would hear my peers talk about issues with their parents and I would beg them to go talk to my dad knowing that they would love him and that he would be able to fix what ever their issue was.
I thought my dad was hilarious and I would have rather spent time with him than anyone else.
My dad wasn't lying this morning when he said that our family was real. My dad has set us up to be a family where iron sharpens iron. Let me tell you, there are times when it has totally stunk, and we have all had to learn that we can be quick to correct but slow to show compassion. But when I look at the instruments God has used to enable me to grow I see the lessons my dad has taught me woven so deeply throughout my life. He has pushed me to be excellent, he has pushed me to find my sufficiency in Christ. He has tried to show me what it is to be balanced, and faithful and to put God first, family second and ministry third. My dad has never been lazy with his children, and has never been lazy with his church, he has pushed us to be excellent, to seek the cross and to love Christ.
The beauty of becoming an adult is the transformation from a child to a friend. I have been able to watch my dad age with grace and to grow in humility. He loves his children and he loves this congregation.
My mom, is precious and godly and loves this church and these people, but more so she loves the word and I know she has given so much to this church simply because of her love of the word.

There is no better way to show love to us kids than to love our parents. You have freed my mom up to love her husband and to serve our family and you have encouraged Dad to preach the word through your prayer and support of his ministry. Thank you for loving our parents, it means the world to us.

I came across this quote by John MacArthur about men who faithfully preach the word and I think it perfectly describes my sweet Papa...

"Excellent servants of the Lord aren’t hindered, swayed, or overwhelmed by difficult circumstances—they faithfully press on with their focus fixed on their heavenly reward."

Here are some random pictures of our trip...