|
David Parish |
|
The Church At 242 |
|
Needham Road Baptist |
|
9268 State Highway 242 Conroe, TX 77385 |
|
Here is my Story…
Once upon a time, a looonnnggggg time ago (1975 to be exact), in a town far, far away (Hobbs, NM if’n you want to pin it down on a map) a young husband and wife experienced the most wonderful, exciting, breath-taking event of the last few decades – the birth of a son! That would be my birth, of course. J
Soon after this spectacular birth, my dad got a new job in the “Land That Is Fairer Than Day”……..Oklahoma! Our family moved to OKC and that is where my first memories spring from. A small house with a sandbox, swing set, and swimming pool in the back yard; a sunken living room, a steep hill to ride a bike on out front, and Bodine Elementary School right down the street all are ingrained in my brain.
After a few years of living there, a second tremendous event (though not quite as marvelous as the first event of course) occurred…the birth of my sister. Not long after she was born, we moved out into the sticks of the Great Frontier ~ just south of The City. 5 acres of land for a boy and his 3-wheeler to run over, ride over, and flip-over. I remember a lot of Cub and Boy Scouts, fantastic birthday parties, the most brilliant tree house that any kid could have dreamed of.
Then an odd thing happened – we loaded up and moved to some weird place called, “Tex-as.” We got moved into a house, I got my footing in a new school, we got the lay of the land down…and started going to, what was then, a small church in Magnolia.
My first church memories are of a young lady in camouflage pants and shirt commenting on how much she liked MY camouflage pants and shirt and wanting to know what I knew about some guy named Jesus. Well, I attempted to astound her with my tremendous intellect and told her everything I knew…Jesus was born on Christmas, right after Santa made his yearly trek! She was indeed impressed, but thought that perhaps I could benefit from some additional training, so we began to talk. We talked about the old Bible stories, sang songs, and she told how Jesus came to earth from heaven and took my place so I could know God; she really piqued my curiosity. I began to listen and read and ask questions, and before too long My Story changed for eternity…
…on a Thursday evening just after bed time, with the help of parents, I followed a prompting in my heart and came to understand that without this man called Jesus, I could never be all I needed to be or was supposed to be; nor could I be with God forever in heaven. My parents took a Bible and showed me the way I could have all of these things and more and I gave my heart to Christ there in my room in that foreign country of Texas.
That was some 25 years ago, and now after spending 4 years away in the US Air Force, meeting/dating/marrying my wife of 10 years, seeing our 5 children born (events that eclipse that most blessed of events in 1975), I find myself at home in Texas serving that same Jesus I met all those years ago as a Minister of Music at Needham Road Baptist Church along side my father, who is not only my dad and my friend, but also serves as my Pastor.
If you would like to know more about how your Story can be changed, or if you just would like to talk about this man called Jesus, please contact me here.
Thanks for reading my story, and God Bless You! |