The family and I attended the Salvation Army's church service this morning to see our old friend Terry (written about HERE 3 weeks ago) graduate from their detox program.
I have never been to a Sally Ann church before. It was kind of cool. Like an old-timey country-esque chapel with a subtle rowdiness to it. And rowdy is very good when you have a toddler like us. 15-month-old babies and quiet, sterile church services don't mix.
It was a packed house today, not only due to Terry's grad, but the Major (who looked exactly like Dick Cheney) had a grandchild being dedicated.
Terry's 2 kids Jason and Sally were present. We haven't seen them in almost a year. When Terry went up front for his quick ceremony, all the other Sally Ann guys started whooping and hollering. I didn't know it, but Terry's a pretty good speaker. He gave a quick little sermonette, complete with visuals (like a bullet...to illustrate how he had to "bite the bullet" to enroll in the first place).It was hard to hear most of what he said because of his crying and the microphone setup, but I did understand two important things. First, he publicly apologized to his kids for the hell he's pulled them through. Then he left the podium saying "this is just the beginning".
Thank you again, lord, for showing us the rest of story. And thank you for Terry's proclamation that this truly is the beginning...
4 comments:
gotta love it when transitions are made.
praise the Lord.
I remember the "before Terry" and I met the "after Terry"
and I really thought they were two totally different men.
It reminded me that this is the way it is supposed to be. The old man dies, and a new man is born.
I wish I could have been there to see and hear, and rejoice with him.
What is so cool in all this is that the CEO just did it in him. Through the 2 going on 3 years we've known "terry" and his kids, we've wanted to jump start him to victory- many times we wanted to go in and clean him up or at least his home, but we weren't sensing the CEO in that, like it just wasn't falling in place. So, instead of some visible action, many just prayed, which had the greatest effect of all. If someone would have told me a year ago that I would see this day, I may not have believed them, I was so convinced nothing would come of it (even though we prayed!!!) Sorry Lord for my unbelief! You are mighty, perfect and merciful. May this truly be the start of a life in victory. May Terry's past stay in his past and his future shine bright.
really cool...and yeah for rowdy churches where kids can be kids!
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