Nathan's Big Send-Off

I think I've mentioned Nathan before on this blog. He has been an influential part of the start of Truth Baptist Church here in Florida; building our pulpit, manning the sound equipment, and doing an excellent job at whatever his hands find to do.

As with most (if not all) Navy guys, we all knew that this day would eventually come, we just didn't know how soon. Nathan was training here in Jacksonville for about 6 months before he would be stationed somewhere for the next 3 years. I think I can safely say we ALL were praying that he and his family would be stationed here. The Lord had other plans though, and Nathan received his orders: to go to Washington state (which by the way has got to be just about as far away from Jacksonville as you can get without going to, say, Alaska!).

Knowing that the Lord's plans are best and believing that this will be the best for our church, Nathan's family, our country, and the Lord's glory, we had a big send-off dinner for Nathan after church on Sunday night.

Here are some pictures from the evening. And I must say THANK YOU to Josh's mom for taking the photos. Had she not been there, I doubt any pictures would have been taken by "me". (Have I mentioned before that picture-taking is not my forte? It's so not.)

This is the pulpit that Nathan built a few months ago.

A few of our people helping themselves to the buffet.
Nathan himself, in a rare photo. This man hates pictures!

Most of us who were in attendance last night. I *think* if you click on the photo, you can see it larger.



This is the beautiful cake that Laura made. Read that again, folks. SHE MADE IT!! I have never in my life seen a more beautiful cake or tasted such excellence that was, quite literally, homemade. I am still in awe. :)
Nathan, if you're reading this, we'll miss you! (We'll still miss you even if you're not reading this!) The Lord surely had him here at a crucial time for our church, and we loved having him be a part of our church. We'll keep him in our prayers as he serves in Washington and later is deployed.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Resolving Everyday Conflict

Image
If you've ever been asked to lead a discussion or teach about a certain spiritual discipline, you can be sure that the Lord will lovingly bring just that exact topic to the forefront in your own life. He'll graciously put your ugly sinful tendencies "right on Front Street," as my good friend Dara likes to say. This is grace! This is God's kindness to reveal sinful tendencies in our own hearts so that we can repent, seek renewed relationship with God and others, and be used of Him. Here is a story about one such evidence of God's grace to me. Josh and I were late to our small group last night. Oh, we were there . We had technically arrived on time, but we remained in the parking lot of the neighborhood's clubhouse for over 45 minutes before we were able to walk in holding hands. Much later in the evening, on our way home from Grace Group, Eden begged to be the one to fill the boys in on why we were late (the boys had driven separately from a soccer practice
Read more

The Hand of God

Image
 I am in Scotland. S C O T L A N D. This is me; Joanna, the one whose comfort zone is within about one square mile, who said she never wanted to leave the USA, who hates to travel on anything public, who nearly hyperventilates at the mere mention of airplanes. How is this possible that I am here? Only by God's grace. Every step in front of the other, every long line, every minute on those airplanes was enabled by God's grace. On my end, it wasn't always pretty--usually it was very ugly--and I may have said, "I can't do this" more times than we could count (Josh had to tell me to quit saying that), but God was faithful to me and I have a really great story about one such miracle to share with you, but for perspective and contrast I have to share a really ugly story first. Here goes:  We dropped off our rental car in Dublin about 11am, and had to ride a shuttle bus back to the Dublin airport to catch our 1:10pm "quick" flight over to Edinburgh, Scotlan
Read more

The Whole Truth

Image
Our cat, Willow, has kittens periodically. By periodically I mean about 2-3 times a year, and we don't hate it. We actually enjoy guessing when her due date is, how many kittens there will be, what they will look like, etc. Then when she has them, well, is there anything cuter than kittens? But sooner or later, 8 weeks later to be exact, it's time for those kittens to go. At that time we will put an ad on Craigslist and find homes for each and every one. This brings the fun hassle of sending people additional pictures, telling them again how much we are charging (that was in the ad!), setting up potential meetings with people who will ghost at the last minute, after we've already given them our address. Everyone should put an ad on Craigslist at least once just for the experience. Should you finally get someone who likes the look of a kitten, wants to pay the price, can meet at an agreeable time, successfully finds your house, is okay with the fact that the kittens haven&#
Read more