There is a Baby Girl Boom at First Baptist!

There is a definite baby boom at First Baptist! It seems every week they are announcing that another baby has been born and hardly any of them are boys. Sunday night at church Abigail and Ellis (born 2 months before Abby) had a great time together. They even talked to each other and it was so sweet! Can you believe how cute they are?

USC Tragedy

The 7 college students that were killed last Monday in the horrifying fire have been on my heart all week. This tragedy hits close to home

1. Because I graduated from USC and was in a sorority (Kappa Delta) and knew many Tri Delts and SAE’s.
2. Because we just had a fire in our house this past June

Seeing this fire and all the suffering it has brought has brought back some hard memories of our fire. What if Jackson had been in his room when it caught on fire? What if Charlie had not heard the smoke detectors (I certainly did not hear them)? What if God had decided to take Jackson? Would I have been strong enough to have endured the tremendous loss of a child? I am praying for these families daily, and Dr. Estep preached a wonderful message on, “When Bad Things Happen” (go to the website and here the ending song…it was unbelievable).

After having Jackson, I really did ponder on what was the worst event that could ever happen to us. Jackson is ultimately God’s child not mine. God has given Jackson to us as a wonderful gift. The suffering here on earth is only temporal. The worst event that could happen to our family is not that one of our children died, but rather if one of our children died and we knew 100 percent that they had rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Where we spend eternity is FOREVER! The suffering here one earth is only temporal. Am I daily choosing to live for eternity or am I choosing to live for the temporal things. Is unpacking boxes and having a perfectly clean and organized house more important to me right now than holding my baby and reading to Him God’s Word? I think women especially get so unhappy because they put all their thoughts and energy in temporal things such as baking the perfect meal….is baking the perfect meal really investing in eternity? We were not created to live for the temporal things of this world!

Finally, today in my daily reading of Scripture, I was reading John 9 and 10. In Chapter 9 Jesus heals a man who was born blind. Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus if this man or his parent had sinned. Jesus clearly states, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Sometimes I believe bad things happen so that the work of God might be displayed in that person’s life. We were not created to worship ourselves, but our Creator. If an event, however hard it might be, helps us grow closely in our relationship with God, as well as to die to ourselves, and depend on God…..will it not then be totally worth all the pain?

Life Changing News For the Wallace Family

Wow, I did not think so much could happen in one year, but it can. We have been clearly called to First Baptist Columbia for Charlie to be the children’s pastor there. It is not something we sought out, but rather it was God definitely calling us there. It is extremely hard to leave here, but it is even harder because we did have the fire, and people at Crosswell carried that burden with us. The people at Crosswell are unbelievably giving, and wonderful people. I have really become close with many of the girls here, and so needless to say last Sunday was very emotional, and I am going to miss every single person here a lot! Carol held my hand through it all, again carrying the burdens with me. We are really excited about serving at First Baptist and it is a tremendous responsibility. They have I think 450 children enrolled and the church itself has about 5,500 members. Charlie will have a full time ass. children pastor and 2 part time workers to assist him

Pray that:

1. We find a house soon. We were apart a lot this summer and I will be living in Spartanburg during the week and coming down on the weekend. I had no idea how hard it is to find/buy a house….we are going Thursday to look again at house in Lexington so pray on Thursday for us
2. That Jackson adjust well
3. That God will supply Crosswell all its needs and that people will step up even more than they already have.
4. That I stay stress free and stay joyful in my God who has blessed us with everything

Here is Charlie’s resignation letter it is so well written I just had to post it:

Dear Crosswell Church Family,

A few months ago I received a phone call from the First Baptist Church of Columbia. The purpose of the phone call was to find out if I was interested in talking about the possibility of joining their staff as children’s minister. The phone call came as a surprise to me and my wife as we were not particularly interested in the idea of leaving Crosswell.

After many lengthy discussions with different people at First Baptist, it started to become clear that First Baptist had some unique needs and the type of man that they were looking for seemed to fit my personality, leadership style, and overall skills. It also started to become clear that God seemed to be at work in the process. In the end, after much discussion and prayer and with the blessing of Pastor Charles, my wife and I have decided to accept the distinct call of God and to accept the position of children’s pastor at First Baptist Columbia.

My last Sunday at Crosswell will be next week, September 2 and my last day is Thursday September 6. I have been and will continue to keep putting things in place for my departure.

Despite the new challenge ahead, we are not leaving Crosswell easily. We count every single one of you as dear friends. I consider each and every one of you as a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, a grandfather and a grandmother in Christ.

We will always have many fond memories of our rewarding time at Crosswell. First and foremost, your generosity has not gone unnoticed. A house-warming party, a baby shower and a love offering were just a few of the many ways that you as a church reached out to us.

We also experienced a lot of monumental occasions – my ordination, my first baptisms, my first full-time ministry position, and our first child. Most importantly, we will have a lot of memories that we can laugh at and fondly recall for the rest of our lives.

It is going to be hard to leave. But we will always thank God for the time that we have had together and we pray that you will invite us back in the future for special occasions. Please hold us, Crosswell, and First Baptist in your prayers as we all undergo this transition while trying to reach people with the Gospel of Christ.

With Much Love in Christ,

Charlie, Emily, and Jackson Wallace