30 Days of Thankful-Day #14
Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has a history. Everyone has a lesson to be learned and something to teach.
I have been very blessed with people in my life that have invested in me to help make me the person I am today. I am thankful and grateful for each person.
I am especially thankful for my home church. I grew up attending Dayton Avenue Baptist Church before I took my first breath. I became a member at the age of 9 when I professed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and my membership stayed at DABC until the day God moved my husband and I to Carlinville, Illinois. DABC is the only church I had ever known and I am so very blessed to be a product of their faithfulness to God.
I have always known the love of Jesus through these people. I have been embraced in love through life's hardest times. I have been disciplined and chastised when necessary but never outside of what is good and right.
I can remember being a youth and being welcomed into the homes of those leading us. My youth leaders would drive 20 minutes, cross the river (which is a natural border for anyone in Peoria. For whatever reason the bridge leads into Peoria but rarely leads back to Washington so this was a big deal), pick me up, take me to their home for Bible study back in Peoria, and then bring me back home. We would go out to lunch after church to Jumers and feel like kings and queens as we sat around the giant round tables as a group. We had activities all summer long and thought provoking Bible studies. They invested in me. They loved me. They nurtured and grew me to know and love the Lord during a time of life that most teens were seeking their own way and floundering.
It didn't stop there. When I hit the college years, again, there was someone there leading and guiding me. We had a lot of fun as college students. We gathered for activities, parties and Bible study. During the years when our heads were being filled with all sorts of nonsense from the world, my church stepped up and reminded us of what was important. They reminded us to follow in His ways and they were constantly teaching us those ways.
It is important to note that this was being done by laypeople. Normal, average, every day, not called into full time ministry, people. But they were people whose every day lives were filled with Jesus and they were able to pour into us their overflow of knowledge and wisdom. Most of these people were in their 60s and 70s. Some may think that a 60 year old and a 20 year old have too much of a gap to be able to relate. I humbly disagree. A 60 year old has enough life, hopefully enough Bible study and time with God, to be able to truly relate to those just starting adulthood. I was blessed. These leaders saw the need, stepped up and did it.
It wasn't just the lay leadership that made an impact on my life. DABC had a knack for calling Gospel lead, Spirit filled men as pastors. The pulpit at DABC was filled by men that preached God's word. They loved God's word. And they lived God's word.
Of course, not every church is perfect. But the way DABC has overcome those obstacles has also helped me to become the person I am today. I have learned to show forgiveness, love and care during times that all I want to do is curl up in a ball and cry. I have learned to let go of bitter, angry feelings. I have learned to love others through difficult times.
Dayton Avenue Baptist Church helped to form a foundation upon which God has built this woman. In turn, it helped to build my husband and my family. I am thankful. I am proud. I am blessed to have been raised there.
I have been very blessed with people in my life that have invested in me to help make me the person I am today. I am thankful and grateful for each person.
I am especially thankful for my home church. I grew up attending Dayton Avenue Baptist Church before I took my first breath. I became a member at the age of 9 when I professed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and my membership stayed at DABC until the day God moved my husband and I to Carlinville, Illinois. DABC is the only church I had ever known and I am so very blessed to be a product of their faithfulness to God.
I have always known the love of Jesus through these people. I have been embraced in love through life's hardest times. I have been disciplined and chastised when necessary but never outside of what is good and right.
I can remember being a youth and being welcomed into the homes of those leading us. My youth leaders would drive 20 minutes, cross the river (which is a natural border for anyone in Peoria. For whatever reason the bridge leads into Peoria but rarely leads back to Washington so this was a big deal), pick me up, take me to their home for Bible study back in Peoria, and then bring me back home. We would go out to lunch after church to Jumers and feel like kings and queens as we sat around the giant round tables as a group. We had activities all summer long and thought provoking Bible studies. They invested in me. They loved me. They nurtured and grew me to know and love the Lord during a time of life that most teens were seeking their own way and floundering.
It didn't stop there. When I hit the college years, again, there was someone there leading and guiding me. We had a lot of fun as college students. We gathered for activities, parties and Bible study. During the years when our heads were being filled with all sorts of nonsense from the world, my church stepped up and reminded us of what was important. They reminded us to follow in His ways and they were constantly teaching us those ways.
It is important to note that this was being done by laypeople. Normal, average, every day, not called into full time ministry, people. But they were people whose every day lives were filled with Jesus and they were able to pour into us their overflow of knowledge and wisdom. Most of these people were in their 60s and 70s. Some may think that a 60 year old and a 20 year old have too much of a gap to be able to relate. I humbly disagree. A 60 year old has enough life, hopefully enough Bible study and time with God, to be able to truly relate to those just starting adulthood. I was blessed. These leaders saw the need, stepped up and did it.
It wasn't just the lay leadership that made an impact on my life. DABC had a knack for calling Gospel lead, Spirit filled men as pastors. The pulpit at DABC was filled by men that preached God's word. They loved God's word. And they lived God's word.
Of course, not every church is perfect. But the way DABC has overcome those obstacles has also helped me to become the person I am today. I have learned to show forgiveness, love and care during times that all I want to do is curl up in a ball and cry. I have learned to let go of bitter, angry feelings. I have learned to love others through difficult times.
Dayton Avenue Baptist Church helped to form a foundation upon which God has built this woman. In turn, it helped to build my husband and my family. I am thankful. I am proud. I am blessed to have been raised there.
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