Advent Devotional by Roxann Brenton

Zephaniah 3: 14-20 

Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel!  Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! ……For the Lord will remove his hand of judgement and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will fear disaster no more. (Zephaniah 3:14-15)

It was 1960 and our small family, consisting of my parents and an older sister, had just moved to Liberty. My dad had already suffered one heart attack and was advised by his doctors to move closer to emergency medical resources. (At that time, there was no 911 emergency system.)  My parents purchased a home in Liberty next to a 2BC couple, Fielding and Pearl Barnes. Having no grandparents of our own, they invited us to call them Grandpa and Grandma. (I learned to love “Grandma Barnes’ cinnamon rolls even before Evelyn Carder’s.) The Barnes invited us to visit 2BC with them and we’ve been there ever since.

We were instantly enveloped into the welcoming arms of 2BC.  Our family of four was baptized together in 2BC’s beautiful baptistery. Many years later Dr. Link would perform the marriage ceremony of Lyndell and me in front of that same baptistery!

I love the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.”  I was the “child” and 2BC was my “village.”  Fellow members Ruth Hughes, Charlie Hughes’ mother, was my choir director.  The 2BC youth program and Sunday School teachers, Sybil Hill and Polly Bowles guided my path and I cherish their involvement in my life to this day.

Roxann Brenton