Reflection Paper

Because of this rally and the message it sent, I realized and wanted to give my life to Jesus through baptism. It was awesome, I got home as a young teenager and actually talked to my mom about what it really means to be a Christian and to pick up your cross and follow him. So that very next weekend, my dad baptized me in front of the whole church on Sunday morning. It was an awesome feeling knowing that because of Jesus’ grace and mercy, I will be with him one day and spend eternity with him. Although I was on top of the world at this point, I still didn’t know fully what I had gotten into.

What have I done to show my generosity to others? I pray for each student in my every class every day, no matter he or she is a Christian or not. I listen whatever my students want to share with me about their lives patiently and give them my advice from the Bible guiding them in the way they can see the grace from God. I spent a whole week with some youth using reusable materials to finish decoration for VBS event. I spent two months talking to my parents via international calls every midnight, prayed for them, and wanted to let them know how much love they have been receiving from Jesus Christ.

Samantha is in 8th grade and has attended St. Paul since pre-Kindergarten. She has been an altar server since 6th grade and assists the priests during weekday and Sunday Masses, as well as Holy Days, weddings, and funerals. She volunteers to read at the Children’s masses on Sundays and participates in various capacities at school masses. Both girls received their sacraments at St. Paul; Rebecca received First Communion, Reconciliation and was confirmed; Samantha was baptized, received First Communion, Reconciliation and will be confirmed in February. My wife, Maria, is a Eucharistic Minister at St. Paul and regularly participates in masses and assists the Priests and Deacons.

We are going to be helping them work on their English, and I will get to use my Spanish. I have also had the opportunity to work in the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer nursery which was my first paying job. Every Sunday morning I am in the nursery from 9 until 12, or later if needed, watching peoples children up to four years of age while they attend church.

Over the years, my family and I were very involved in the Church. We joined a Catholic family ministry called Couples for Christ - Foundation for Family in Life and we have stayed active in the ministry except for me because I moved to Washington for college. By moving to Washington, I knew that this would be a new chapter in my life and I knew that God was calling me to leave Las Vegas and discover more of what life has to offer.

At the Christian church my mom took my brother and I to on Sundays we sang praise songs that didn’t sound like they came from the 1800s. Outside of songs of praise, scripture analogies, and dinner prayer, religion and God were sprinkled lightly throughout most days. Every school day began and ended with class prayer. On weekends my mom told me to pray in my head while I brushed my teeth. She even prayed with me before basketball and baseball

Confirmation is when we established in the faith. On my Confirmation, I remember one of my favorite things was an event leading up to the ceremony. We had to pick a Confirmation name and research them. My Confirmation name was Rosalie after my grandmother. On the day of the ceremony, we entered the Church and walked in as we were assigned to.

One month and two days later on April 25, 1954, and one week after Easter, one hundred forty five people attended the first worship service and Sunday school above the old Township Hall and fire station on the northeast corner of Haslett and Okemos Roads. For the first year or so, guest ministers provided most of the sermons. Occasionally there would be a fire call and the siren would blow, interrupting the service. This always delighted the young children. At an October 1954 meeting in the Haslett elementary school, the Congregational Christian Church was selected as the denomination with which Haslett Community Church would be affiliated.

True friends are always there to offer a helping hand whenever you have problems. It took me many years to find a true friend. It was an ordinary Sunday morning; the sun was shining as usual. I put on my youth group uniform, which consisted of a white shirt and a navy blue skirt. I was nervous because I was going to participate in the youth group at my church after a long break, and worried that I might not have anyone to be with.

We had children living and working in London so we seized the opportunity to visit them and join them in a holiday tour of Wales and Ireland. I had always wanted to do a small sabbatical and so tied a study into that trip visiting and interviewing English Clergy involved in renewal including Nickey Gumbel author of the Alpha Course that has become an international inspirational tool. How special to visit Holy Trinity, Brompton in person when we had viewed it on DVD over and over in our yearly course presentations. Again it was a God Incident that just before we left for England contact came from a cousin we did not know existed who had been searching my family roots and had just located a wealth of information and family locations. We toured the very ground that my ancestors walked dating back to the 1400’s and David gave us a personal tour of original residences, Churches and graveyards in Somerset that made up a once- in- a- life- time experience!