Fresh Faith, Fresh Faces

This morning I slept an hour later than usual, fixed a cup of coffee and was busy writing up the church bulletin for tomorrow when the phone rang. Thankfully David and Elaine remembered we had to pick up the Hope Missions crew at the airport in Mobile. I threw on some clothes, picked up the bus and headed for Mobile. I had a long talk with my mom during that trip, which I enjoyed. I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving. I have to take a day and go see her soon. She's only two hours away. I picked up LT and the gang at the airport. I mentioned to him that he could buy me the Subaru SUV on display there. It's only 40,000 bucks. He declined. Ah well, you have not because you ask not. And sometimes you still have not when you ask! We got back to Pascagoula in time for a bite to eat, then we took them to where they are staying so they could rest. I took off for Mobile airport again to pick up the crew from Hillside Christian Church. This is their third trip down and it was great to see some familiar faces. This was just the beginning ... as groups arrived from Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and tomorrow Texas. I am not good at organizing all of the housing and I had a few anxious moments, but I think everyone's settled for tonight. We can re-arrange tomorrow if we need to. I enjoyed tonight's service. We had a song leader from Oklahoma, and prayer leaders from Wisconsin and North Carolina. Dave Skidmore preached for us tonight. I appreciated this Bible Major from Oklahoma Christian and his message very much. There's a few pictures of him preaching below. Notice the podium in the picture. The guys who drove down yesterday from Pennsylvania brought it. One of the workers a few months ago (Bo) went home and made it for us. (Or maybe for me ... can I keep it!). Bo did a beautiful job. It has two colors of stains, and has a lovely elaborate decorative element on the bottom. There is a dark diamond shape inlaid in the flat part where your notes rest. This brother spent some quality time on this project ... and that truly touches me.