Light Awards

Last Sunday night was the Light Awards at First Baptist Dallas. It was a "red carpet" evening to honor ALL volunteers in every ministry area (children, youth, music, media, women, etc.) at FBC. I was lucky enough to be on the planning team for this event, and we began working on it in January! It took a team of people, an incredible anonymously-gifted (!!!) budget to make it happen, and lots of time, but it was SO great! There were gorgeous flowers everywhere, cocktail tables, hors d'oeuvres, live music, and everyone entered the church via the red carpet...and that was before the actual show! As soon as the doors opened and people were settled, we had a musical medley of broadway hits performed by amazing volunteers (including my husband and mother!). Each song had a twist, and they were all humorously rewritten to convey the hardships of being a volunteer. "Make 'Em Serve," "I Can't Say No," "It's a Hard Knock Life," "Get Me To The Church On Time," "Singing Through The Pain," and "Memory." The songs were hilarious, and then we proceeded to award two people per ministry area.

Each ministry leader said a few words about each honoree, and it was such a blessing to hear what they had to say! To see the humility, grace, and giftedness of people from all over the church was inspiring. Daddy got one of the two awards from the media team...I was so proud of him! He is a perfect example of what a servant should be...totally humble, but always going the extra SEVERAL miles to represent Christ in an awesome way through his service. I won't go into detail, but those of you who know him know that Daddy puts in MANY hours a week, so that he can be prepared to do his service each Sunday. He didn't want to be honored, though...it's not his nature to want to draw attention to himself. In fact, every person who received an award on Sunday night has that same personality...wanting all the attention to remain focused on the Lord.

I know I have only been in the ministry for 10 years, but I can say in FULL confidence that volunteers can never be appreciated too much. Everything I do is because we have a team of volunteers who make it possible. Appreciating volunteers doesn't always cost money...sometimes it's just an email or a phone call. Sometimes it's just a cup of coffee! But regardless the HOW, it's important to remember to love your leaders and encourage them. The Light Awards were a fantastic way to do that...we mixed in a little fun with some genuine love, and everyone walked away feeling GREAT!

After the awards were presented, a few of us "staffers" did a finale musical medley..."You're the One That We Want," "Tomorrow" (which just so happened to be my assigned song), and "One Singular Sensation." We had a ball, and ended the night on a high! :) I know I can't really give you the effect of what it was like to be there, but I just had to share it with you! Unfortunately, because of my responsibilities, I wasn't able to take pictures until after it was all over, the red carpet was gone, the lights were off, and the flowers were dispersed! But a friend took a few on her phone during the show, so I have a few...the rest are after the evening was over. Anyhoo, here's a small glimpse of it!

Then Hattie spontaneously started dancing like this...

We couldn't help ourselves...we all got caught up!

Gotta stop dancing for a hug from Grandad!