Surprise Visit To Hillsboro

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in today. I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday! I had a great time spending time with my family. 

I am always thankful for the times I spend holidays with family. Next week I will share my Thanksgiving celebrations in pictures with you.

Today I am posting more about my night last Wednesday. I told you a little about the night in the Weekend Dispatch here. My Mom's brother Danny Morgan Jr pastors at House of Deliverance in Hillsboro, Ohio. God recently blessed them with a different building.

The church has in been in one location for several years. The location served them well, but they had been running out of room for a while. They have been located on a hill, which makes having church in the winter extremely difficult.

We have been praying with them to find a new location. A few different places have not worked out for them. God had a different and better plan for them!

Back in the summer, they were contacted by a church that had closed. The old church gave the building to my Uncle's church. It was an amazing miracle! 

We praised God along with them for answering the prayers. This new location is right in town. Best of all, there are not any hills involved!

My Uncle and the House of Deliverance have worked tirelessly to remodel the new location. They have transformed the building. Honestly, it does not look like the same place! I am incredibly excited for them!

That brings us to last Wednesday night. House of Deliverance was ready to begin having church in their new location. They chose to start it off with their annual Thanksgiving Candlelight Communion Service.

I knew they were having the first serve that night. I wanted to be with them for the special service. I also wanted to surprise some of my family. It did not seem possible for me to pull off the surprise.

My Mamaw called me that morning saying they wanted to go to the service too. We made plans to make the hour trip from Waynesville to Hillsboro that afternoon.

Hillsboro just happens to still have a very good Ponderosa. My Papaw Eugene suggested we leave early enough to get dinner there before church. I was all for that Idea.

I called Gran and Papaw and let them know our plans to come to service. They decided to join us for dinner too. It was wonderful to enjoy a delicious meal with all of my grandparents!

Here are a couple pictures of our meal.

We arrived at the church early enough to surprise and visit with some of my other family members. It was good to see them again. I should have been videoing to capture some of the responses.  

Jackson's was the cutest. He spotted me coming into the sanctuary. He then said, "There is Odie!" It made my day that he was happy to see me!

Morgan saw me and said, "Well, hello there."

I was happiest to pull a surprise off on Courtney. It was good that I only had known for a little while. She did not even get suspicious of my plan. 

The candlelight service was so sweet and beautiful.

I was happy to see my cousin Kayla Jo again. I love my cousins so much!

Kayla took most of the pictures below to show you the church.

This is a picture of my Gran and me.

 

Here is happy Miss Karleigh Jo. She is used to seeing me on the phone. It took a minute to realize that I was real. 

 Jackson was ready for his weekly Taco Bell fix. He loves tacos!

Bro. Fred Moore is a wonderful man. Bro, Fred, thanks for being a friend to my family. It was great to see you again!

It is always great to see Hunter! I am so proud of him. He is in the home stretch of getting his teaching degree.

I had to get a picture with both of my grandmothers. Words can not describe how extraordinary these two ladies are. I am thankful to get to have them in my life.

My aunt Kim is amazing! I wish all of you could know her too.

This is my cousin Wade. He will be 18 next Friday. How in the world did that happen? I was 18 when he was born.

I had a wonderful time surprising my family last week. It was great to be in service with them. Thanks for joining me today.

Odie