Revival Sunday

 

This was the big day!  After months of being apart and doing things online with services, ouch local church finally met together for a service at the Gainesville campus.  Simultaneously, our other campuses were doing something similar, and it was just so great to see everyone together again.  We saw so many familiar faces we hadn't seen in so long, as thousands made their way to the church, sitting in not only these chairs but others that they brought along to set up in the parking lot, lawns, and anywhere they could find to the left or right of the stage area.  

A few years ago, we had this amphitheater built for special events, with no idea that this was the sort of event that it would be used for some day.  You can see we've arrived earlier here in this photo.  Madison took a few shots with her phone as we arrived.  Mommy and I were helping with KidPak, setting up the areas where we would hand out those bags we've been making all week long.  We had stuffed them with the materials we made, and even new KidPak booklets too.  

On top of that, even Pastor Lance and Nerdo were on stage, greeting everyone before the service.  We had Nerdo with his floaties and swim goggles, and the kids were laughing at the intro before the service itself. And then came the service - you can see the message points here, again another picture that Madison had taken.  She was seated pretty much in the center with some friends from taekwondo, and enjoyed going back to service again.  

She filled out the notes, following along with Pastor Franklin.  The message was called "The Power of a Little Bit of Hope," and it was a great message that followed a psychologist's recommendation on how to get out of depression and get back into a better life.  This coincided with some strong Biblical points, and the hope that David found when things were at their lowest.

Madison did not take this picture here, but she is in it, although she is in the photo, a couple spots left of a guy wearing a cowboy hat.  Mommy and I were off to the side, to the left of this picture actually, closer to the actual church itself.  We watched and listened from up there, watching over the booth as we handed out bags filled with goodies and materials.

It was a good morning, and we were surprised after cleaning everything up and heading home that it was only eleven o'clock!  Normally leaving church, it's around 2pm, but there was just the one service today, and that's okay for a start.  Next week, we'll be back inside doing a run-through of a normal service.  It will be good to be back again, that's for certain.

The rest of the day was good.  We ate lunch, of course.  Mommy made this scrumptious fruit salad too.  Madison was working on her piano, and also doing that brochure for the Piedmont area.  We've been cleaning up the basement and garage, moving things into a "yard sale" pile, or at least a pile to go to Nana and Ye-Ye's in order to hopefully sell some things online.  We'll see how that goes.

Tonight we watched the latest "Phineas and Ferb" movie, which was a lot of fun, actually.  It was just great to see everyone again on the screen, all the familiar voices and faces.  I can't remember when the last new thing from Phineas and Ferb was released, but it's been quite some time, and this one was worth the wait.  Nostalgia was kicking in big time.  And it was doing the same thing for us with the Muppets show we were watching as well, new episodes that have been a lot of fun to watch.  

We read tonight, of course, and we prayed as well.  It's been a good day though, the highlight being the church service we all went to together this morning, the start of something wonderful, a return to something beautiful.