Sunday was the 26th Anniversary of our church, Highlands Baptist Church. We have been part of the church family for eleven years.
Andrea was 16, Kenny was 14 and Wes was 10 when we came to Highlands. This picture was taken at Easter after we had started attending. Pastor Musgrave always stands at the door and greets people. He popped his head in just as I was taking the kid’s picture!!
The ministries of Highlands have been a tremendous blessing to our family. I was looking back at some pictures and saw that my kids had a lot of fun, learned to serve in ministry and made personal decisions for the Lord because of Highlands. Over the years the kids were involved with puppet ministry, VBS skits, music, mission trips, camp, murder mystery nights…and so much more! These were not just “for fun” activities but impacting to their lives. We home schooled our kids and I always felt like our church was our support group because there was lots of ”socialization” going on there! And layered into the fun was teaching and challenges from God’s Word!
God used Pastor and Anna to start our church 26 years ago. He has now called them into a new ministry. Our church has been in transition for about a year as we looked for a new Pastor. I will admit that the past year has been long and at times discouraging and hard. I wish that at the times when I was really discouraged that I would have taken a scrapbook off the shelf, looked at some of those pictures and reminded myself of all that had taken place, all that was good and all that God did for us in the past. It would have made the “holding on” a little easier. And really, how wonderful to be part of this and see a healthy transition, evidence of God’s Hand leading us. At any rate, we have arrived at a new place, and we are excited for it. God has brought us a new Pastor, Steve Hafler, his wife Toni and their six children!
We also have very full hearts at what God has done through Pastor and Anna in the past 26 years and for our family, the past eleven years. When we first began attending Highlands they had a Christian school. They had invited homeschoolers to take part in their field day and we were new, so I took the kids to help them get to know the others. One event was a mile relay and Kenny was kind of awkwardly standing around without a partner. I remember Pastor grabbing him and running the relay with him. Here he is passing the baton to Kenny.
I thought of these pictures because on Sunday Pastor Musgrave preached his last message to us as our Pastor. And then he called Steve Hafler up and literally handed him a baton, as he passed his ministry to the next runner!
We love Pastor and Anna. I know the transition time has been tough for them also, peaking with an emotionally difficult day Sunday. But God is not finished with them at all. Their new ministry, “Exchange Ministries”, will take them on the road teaching evangelism and discipleship to churches and to missionaries overseas.
Anna and I
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
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