A Different Kind of Church Home

John and I considered First Baptist Killeen our home church. I treasure the memories of that church: the people, the friendships, and especially the old red brick sanctuary.

I remember that for a time the nursery was in the basement. The nursery was run by Mrs. Dugger and many of the ladies in the church volunteered on Sundays.

We were members of First Baptist Killeen when all of our children were small. Then, John's job transferred us overseas for several years. When our family returned to the United States, we moved our letter back to FBC Killeen. I remember that it was on the last Sunday there was to be a service in the red brick building.

I remember vividly something that our Pastor, Brother Bob Lambert, said on that last Sunday service in the building. There were three services that morning because the church membership had grown so rapidly and the red brick sanctuary couldn't house us all in one service. The following Sunday was to be our first in the new, much larger, sanctuary. He said "Next week, instead of singing When We All Get to Heaven we will sing When We All Get Together!"

Once we moved into the new Sanctuary, plans were made to demolish the red brick building. Jim and Janie Sharp called us right before the red brick building was to be demolished and asked if we would like to buy the red bricks. They knew we had some land out on Stagecoach Road and were going to build our home there. John bought the red bricks for $1,000 and our home was built with those bricks. Tom Bishop built our house and I remember him telling us the bricks were a little larger than regular bricks and it was a bit more challenging to use them!

Our family lived in that house for 42 years. That house was precious to me, knowing where those bricks came from, and -- I might add -- that we had fifteen bridal showers in that house, most of which were for young ladies from First Baptist Killeen!

What story will today's bricks tell?
What story will tomorrow's bricks tell?