Monday, April 12, 2010

Truly a divine appointment ....

For the last couple of years, we've been attending All Saints Orthodox Church in Raleigh, NC when visiting our daughter in Goldsboro. Our relationship seems to be truly blessed:

The first time we attended, we were welcomed warmly: imagine our surprise when we found that Fr. Nicholas had been a pastor in the Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod (as had I) ...

I think it was the next time that we attended, the parish was under the understanding that their assisting priest, Fr. Philip, a Marine chaplain was to be deployed. About six months later when we returned, he was still there.

About a year ago, we were present for his last Sunday prior to deployment (this time he did go).

Last Fall, we were present for the groundbreaking of the new Temple, arriving just in time for the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with His Grace Bishop Antoun! (This again was "coincidence")

This past weekend, we attended once again, and were excited by the progress on the new temple, and astounded when we found that this was Fr. Philip's first Sunday back after his deployment!

I am always amazed at the grace of God and His timing, and truly blessed to be a part of this parish's history, even though I live about a thousand miles away! We

Katherine and I are hoping to PLAN a trip when the new Temple is blessed this fall.

This was truly a gift from God as we were in Bright Week after our fifth Pascha in Holy Mother Church!