I remember with both love and angst the years of sitting in church for hours on end.
Listening to sermons that at times felt as though they had gone on for hours and sometimes they did.
Sitting quietly and with awe while listening to testimonies of a God that mirrored exactly what was written in a book that I dived deeper and deeper into year after year.
Waiting patiently and sometimes not patiently for conversations with my parents to end, because although we were never there when the doors opened, we were almost always there until the doors closed for the day.
I remember fondly the memories of conversations, jokes, and events shared between my closest confidantes, one of which I would still cross a scorched earth to defend and to be present for.
One memory that stands out the most took place on New Years Eve.
A service that left my life both physically and spiritually impacted forever.
I remember praise and worship and dancing going on forever and then it suddenly stopped.
Abruptly and without notice.
The intentional interruption was soon proceeded with loud cheers that kept growing with every whisper that was shared.
Then the announcement came:
“Sister CeCe had a kidney and was headed to surgery in that very moment!“
I remember the weeks and months leading up to that moment of praying earnestly as a family and a body of believers for God to provide healing to her body.
But that was not the singular moment that changed me.
It was watching Sister Cece worship.
She led worship, week after week, never wavering in her belief of the goodness of God.
So with deep admiration and love I say thank you!
Thank you for being New Testament Fellowship and Zion Assembly.
Thank you for being the “City on the Hill” in the midst of a city plagued with pain and grief.
Thank you for role modeling prayer, praise, and testimony, and doing so publicly.
Thank you for showing a young girl, how to call on the name of Jesus and to praise Him while waiting for Him to deliver on His promises.
But most importantly, thank you for praying for that same girl, but this time as a woman in need of her own miracle.
Although I haven’t crossed the threshold of that building in recent years unless to say loving goodbyes to the parents of friends, I haven’t strayed away.
My heart and life has remained rooted in the truth of the goodness of God.
The truth that He is faithful.
The truth that He is always good.
The truth that His promises never return void.
The truth that prayer changes things.
So thank you for your prayers and love, then as a child, and now as an adult!
Comments