This year I reached a milestone in my life – I celebrated my 50th birthday. While that may be old to some, I really don’t feel as though I have lived a half a century. That’s because I spend a lot of time with the youth at Holiness Tabernacle. My wife always tells me that I am a little boy at heart.
Every Sunday morning at the conclusion of Children’s Church, our youth join us in worship service. They bring their coins and drop them in a large container. By doing this, we teach them to give to the Church, and all of the proceeds remain within the Youth Department. These funds are used primarily to sponsor their monthly outings. This year we have visited the Newseum, a local senior citizen facility and Fun Land. We have gone bowling, attended the COGIC East Coast Youth Rally, and earlier this month we went to a pumpkin patch at the Burke Nursery in Burke, Virginia. It was so much fun!
The weather was perfect – a brilliant autumn Saturday. We grabbed pieces of carpet, climbed several stairs and slid down giant slides. We crawled into large tubes and rolled down a steep hill (ouch!!). We loaded on a large wagon and went on a hay ride through a wooded area that was decorated with sites intended to spook us. Some of the youth dove into a large mud pile that had money buried in it – they found several coins too! Others ran and jumped on swings and ropes that were extended from tall trees and swung back and forth. Still others ran into teepees and heard sounds from Native Americans. But that wasn’t all. There were moon bounces, train rides and a petting zoo! After a couple of hours of fun and play time – we had worked up an appetite. It was time to eat!
Off we were to CiCi’s for some good ole fashion pizza, soda and much more. We ate, joked and laughed. As I watched the young people laugh and play together, I felt so thankful for them. I thanked God for allowing me to play a part in their young lives. I thanked God for their energy, their sense of humor and their dry "knock – knock" jokes. I thanked God for the young lives that will carry on the work of the Lord after I have moved on. And then I thanked the Lord it was time to return them to the Church!
That night as I lay in bed and reflected on the day’s events, I wondered how many ministers, missionaries, deacons and choir members were in our group. In my mind I felt like I was sixteen years old again. Then I went to roll over and I discovered a few muscles that hadn’t been used in a while. It was then I realized perhaps I was a little boy at heart, but I was a half a hundred in my body!!
Be blessed!
Elder Eddie B Pruitte, Jr.
Pastor & Founder, Holiness Tabernacle COGIC