I Might’ve Scared Some People Away…
Last week, I emphasized the skilled part of the work needed for the carpet installation, and I’m afraid I overdid it! We still need your help—skilled or not!
We will most likely complete the entire job tomorrow, but it will just go that much quicker with more hands helping. I’m so thankful for the ones who have been helping! Several people were here until about 9 p.m. last night, which felt like midnight for Jeffery and Max! They landed around 1 a.m. at LAX, got home a little before 3 a.m., and were up working by about 8 a.m.! And, still, they worked through the entire day—over 12 hours—for us. What a blessing!
Jeffery Ryser is married to Jenny, my wife’s sister. Jeff is a deacon at the Blessed Hope Baptist Church in Jasonville, IN, he spends about 5 hours every Saturday visiting his entire bus route, and then drives the entire route the next day to pick up and drop off kids for church, getting home around 2:30 p.m. every Sunday. On top of that, he owns a floor store, a pizza restaurant, and a flooring installation company, and still found time to come out here to serve our church.
Jeff isn’t a preacher, but he’s in ministry! Just like Jacob Langley was talking about last Sunday night, our workforce needs godly people to be salt and light in this world! Jeff is definitely that, and I’m so thankful he is here keeping us on track this week. He told his wife that he feels like this is a skill he has come to develop over time, but using it to serve a church is among the most rewarding things he could do with that skill.
And I’m sure glad he’s using his skill for our benefit.
Jeff’s son, Max, is fifteen years old, and last year, God called him to preach. Max will be preaching a 10-minute sermon for us tonight. Surprise, Max!
As soon as he got here, the first thing I said to him was, “Hey buddy! Want to preach for us tomorrow?”
*Blank look of shock. “Uh, sure!”
So, I’m thankful that God is using Max in TWO ways this week—laying carpet and laying down the WORD for us. I’m excited to hear him and thankful for God using him this way.
We also get to hear from our summer intern, Bro. Karsten Blevins. We haven’t heard much from him this summer, so I’m excited to hear what God’s doing in his life, too.
Wednesdays are encouraging. I’m so thankful to be in church. And I’m so thankful to be in this church.
God bless you.
–Pastor Ryan
Special thanks to Ms. April Collier who has spent this week with us serving on the building project! April was originally scheduled to come help with our financial system overhaul, but that ended up being handled by another person, so we used the time to just catch up instead. I appreciate her willingness to go with the flow and for whatever was needed—whether it’s QuickBooks or scraping floors! Thank you!