Saturday, March 29, 2014

A Friend of Youth

It seems like yesterday,
almost 36 years ago, 
I started life with this crazy man.


Yes, he's a goof ball.
He still makes me laugh.

Thirty-five years of loving me,
loving youth, 
loving the church,
and 32 years of loving our children
and he's still funny.


From the first moment David laid eyes
on this little girl, he was "Daddy."


Christy enjoyed special time with her daddy on youth trips.

Whatever the role, 


A husband, a daddy...
(ooo.  He looked so young!)


A friend...


 a Grandy...

He is the best!

On his 50th birthday,
we surprised him with a reunion
with all the youth he had taught.


There was a full house.


Some of our former youth now have children of their own,
  second-generation youth.


Some of these guys stayed with us
more than they did at home.


We laughed.


And we cried.

It was this man's dream, my daddy's,
to have a building of outreach for the youth of our community
a place to belong, a safe place to have fun.


For a few years, we had a house, The Naz Shack.


This came after our children were grown.


The wall in the game room was the youth Wall of Fame.


And not one youth came through the doors
without leaving their mark-
on the wall,


and on his life.


Then it was time to tear it all down.


From the top to the bottom.


And raise a new building,
The J. Emory Lindsey Outreach Building,
in memory of my parents who started the
church 60 years earlier.


The ground-breaking was an emotional time.

It all began because one man
made an impact on another man.


(David on the left and my daddy on the right)

The building is now completed.
Daddy is gone and David is taking a lesser role.
However, the legacy continues.

(New Building and Photos to follow.)

Both men,
A Friend of Youth,

Bonnie:)


12 comments:

  1. I love all these pictures! You've been blessed by some amazing men in your life, and what an impact they've had on your family and your town!

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  2. What a wonderful tribute to more than one precious man in your life and the legacy that will live on. xo Dian

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  3. Bonnie, I love this post. It's wonderful, to know you are reaching so many young lives.Blessings, xoxo,Susie

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  4. what an amazing way to reach out to so many young people and have such a positive influence in their lives. congrats on your anniversary!

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  5. Oh what a wonderful leader! Our youth are the leaders of the future and need more wonderful people in their lives to follow:) Enjoy your day dear friend, I loved this positive message!

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  6. Bonnie, both our husbands names are David.-- HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!! WISHES FOR MANY MORE. Blessings

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  7. What a fantastic legacy for your family. Love seeing all the photos….your husband is a cute goofball. :)

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  8. What a great honor and memorial to a man who served the Lord whole-heartedly!!! Someone - - maybe Moody - - maybe Spurgeon - - I don't remember said something to the effect that we cannot imagine how much can be done in the name of God by one person who is sold out to the Lord.

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  9. What a wonderful post and an honor to your daddy and to your children. How marvelous to be married to a Christian and see the impact they have made on others - especially kids!
    Thank you so much for popping in to see my little wall pockets! :)
    Be a sweetie,Shelia;)

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  10. Sweet memories added to with more sweet memories. That is cool. Y'all really have something special. Congrats on the 35 years! We have been married that long too. How did we get so old!? *lol*
    Hope your day was a happy one. God bless. ~:)

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  11. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful testimony of life and youth. Happy Birthday to your Hubby and how wonderful to honor him in this way. I bet it was great seeing all the youth today. I hope they will continue to grow in Christ and be the kind of husband and Daddy he was to his family.
    Amazing... Love, Roxy

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  12. Awesome phamily and a wonderful marriage that you share! I am following you on bloglovin. Hope you will visit sometime. I was visiting my friend Carol's blog and she was talking about the teacup exchange she participated in. I am a lover of all things tea. Your blog is wonderful and I enjoyed reading about your phamily. Hugs, Anne

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I love the friendships I have developed through blogging. Visit and comment and I'll be sure to drop by and talk to you.