Count it all joy - our home church in the USA

Incredible joy seeing Our Savior's people (the church among whom Wayne & I served before being called to Hong Kong). Babies we've baptized, "kids" we've confirmed, widows and widowers with whom we had walked to grave sites.

There's a wonderful new pastor who not only has three sons (like us!) but who also has a daughter adopted from China.  Wow! (And as Wayne helpfully points out, Pastor Tom Pietz is much more organized than we ever were, too.)

We saw kids who'd grown a foot in less than two years time.

 Older folks looking younger than when I saw them last!

People who've been through chemo treatments, job loss, parental deaths, they've earned their extra lines & wrinkles, but still made the effort to show up at a Sunday night service, holding on to the hope which "counts it all joy" .

A group just back from their service trip in Tanzania, they made it to church despite their jet lag.  Another young woman had just gotten back from India. 

And then there was the little bright-eyed boy, adopted from Guatemala.  We had prayed for him as his parents waited YEARS for his arrival.  We had seen his pictures, and finally, on Sunday night, we got to see him in person, a cheerful three year old, cuddled in his parents arms.  

The church was full, the music and worship was wonderful, Christ was present. Really a foretaste of heaven. But I... forgot to take pictures! Too busy crying and smiling. So I raided the website pictures so you could see "our church" which is really not ours at all, it's always, only, totally, Our Savior's Church, and we hope it will continue to thrive and live up to its name.