My daddy is one the few that have been in the same career for the majority of his life.  This weekend, we celebrated 25 YEARS of ministry at our home church!! Momma and Daddy moved to the country so that daddy could pastor this small little church when I was 18 months old. So, Sparta, VA has been all I have ever known. The crazy thing is that most pastors only stay at churches for a 5-7 years at the MOST… and daddy just passed 25 YEARS!!!! It’s amazing!! Sure, our church has had its’ share of difficult seasons but over all, we have been so blessed. Daddy has led these people for over two decades and Sunday we spent the whole day celebrating him and all that God has done through him!! Lifelong friends traveled in for the day, there was a huge luncheon and then we had a party at my parent’s house afterwards. All of that was a blast… but the BEST part of the day was when my brother and I got up to sing during the service and I thought my momma was going to pass out!!

You have to know this…. I have been singing in front of people since I was 2…. no one even knew my brother could sing until we recorded a song for my sister’s wedding! Just getting him to sing for the recording was like pulling teeth! And so if someone had told me that 4 months later he would agree to sing in front of over 200 people, I would have laughed in your face! There was NO WAY that would happen! Well, on Sunday, I was proven wrong!!  Corey got up in front of a packed church and he sang in front of people for the first time EVER. And he did GREAT!!!!! We are so SO PROUD! Momma cried… daddy cried…. I tried not to cry. It was such a sweet gift for Momma and Daddy. So hopefully Momma won’t hate me for posting the pictures of her in shock… but when you see her face, you’ll realize just how big of a deal this was!!

Thank you to everyone who made this day so special for our family! Thanks to our family friends who drove in! Thanks to Julianna for singing with me during the service and for all of those that helped plan the reception and the service!! It was a beautiful day!!! Enjoy a little recap of our weekend fun!

And to Daddy… I hope you know how much you are loved, cherished and respected in our family, our church and throughout the whole community. I know you don’t love praise and you always deflect it back to God but the truth is, He has done amazing things through you. I’m so honored that you’re my dad and I’m so proud of you and how you have loved and served so many people for SO many years!! You have taught me so much about leadership, love and having a servant’s heart. I love you daddy!! Congratulations!!!!

Michael and Emy read a letter from a childhood friend of Daddy’s!  Julianna and I sang a song that we sang at Joe and Emy’s wedding!And then Corey stood up… and Momma was REALLY confused.
And then really shocked!  And then we sang!! And he did GREAT!!! And they cried… I know we have a small church but this is a LARGE group to sing in front of for the first time EVER! (Thank you to Michael for these pictures!!) Mike (Michael’s dad) did an awesome job planning and running the service. Sometimes I forget how awesome it is that our families are so close. We’re so thankful for the Alsops!!! This is what Daddy does when he’s trying to hold it together…:)  And then in true Salem fashion, they prayed over our family and for our future and for all that God still wants to do in this special place! (Katie Beale you’re the best for capturing this!!)Then we went home and my sister had made Pinterest come to life!!! She’s awesome in the kitchen!
Roomies!! Love seeing these girls together! Missed you Alex! Bichpoos everywhere!!