Memories and Ministry

When I was five years old my family moved from rural Missouri to Waxachie, Texas.  My memories of living in Missouri are scant to say the least.  I remember our home had a crawl space underneath that I was quite scared of, I remember we backed up to a corn or wheat field and I was not allowed to play past our grass in that undiscoverable space, and I remember one time my older sister getting in trouble for back talking and she had the childhood experience of tasting soap while sitting on orange counter-tops (don’t judge, it was the 1980’s).

Just about every generation of Arnold who lived around the old farm were members of the small Assembly of God church with a sanctuary at ground level and class room space in the basement.  My only real memory of services at that church in rural Missouri was a specific spring Sunday where all the members enjoyed food and fellowship while the children dove into a mountainous pile of hay looking for what I would assume to be Easter eggs.

It is amazing what images, smells, and moments burn into our memory.  I am certain that that Assembly of God church in rural Missouri is/was far from the "perfect church”; however, the memory of fun and fellowship outside the confines of wood and plaster cause me to think of it as such.  I am always struck at the stories of Jesus recorded by our gospel authors.  Certainly the three years that Jesus taught and ministered are full of moments that are lost to history.  But then there are stories, mysterious stories, which stood out from the ordinary and burned upon the heart of Christianity as the author took ink to paper.  So too, in our life-long journey in Christ with fellow sojourners there are specific moments that stand out; they form who we are and how we approach life.

I pray that Sunday, with casual attire, we will experience one of these moments in the life of First Christian Church Ruidoso.  May we always, in the sacrament of neighbor love, form memories that burn into the heart of our family of faith.

May peace of Christ rule in our hearts,
Pastor Ryan