By God's grace, the past ten years have been filled with some incredible accomplishments! Here are ten things in the past ten years that have been some of the real highlights for me.
10. Travel
It's my wife's love language and one of the things we enjoy the most in this life. The past ten years have provided some incredibly memorable trips.
Our West-coast trip started at Pebble Beach - playing the legendary course was a bucket list item for me - From there we traveled through the state taking in the Sequoias, San Fransisco, Napa Valley, the redwoods and service at Bethel Church in Redding. From there we traveled to Seattle for an Alaskan Cruise that was simply amazing!
There were family trips to New York, Disney and several ski trips! Our last vacation as a family of four was to Boston. Our family loves history and this trip did not disappoint! The Freedom Trail, the clam chowder and a Red Sox game at Fenway were all quite a treat!
Speaking of history - Our latest trip was a life-long bucket list item for Donna and me - in celebration of 20 years as Lead Pastor at Crossroads, the church sent us on a three week vacation to Paris and Italy. Surrounded by history, architecture, art and incredible food, we dropped the mic on our passion for travel. I don't know that we can top that trip - but we can try!
9. Golf
When we bought our farm in 2002 I traded golf for other hobbies. I was never good at golf anyway. I had never invested in good equipment or lessons, but I enjoyed the game.
Six years ago we became empty-nesters and got out of the horse business. Some of my friends asked me to play in a golf tournament. My friend Spanky Arsement and I came in dead last in the tournament but had fun. We agreed to play a round the next week. My clubs had been put away in storage for so long they literally had rust on them. I asked Spanky to take them to his machine shop and get the rust off. The next week we met up to play and I started looking for my clubs. He said they were already on the cart. What I found was a brand new set of Callaway clubs he and my friend Kerry Emanis had purchased for me along with lessons. Obviously I embarrassed Spanky pretty good the week before! (lol)
I have been playing ever since and I am consistently scoring in the 80's and placing much better in the tournaments I enter. I hope to play this game the rest of my life!
8. Super Bowl Champs
As a life-long fan of a team that has really struggled through the years, it was such an exhilarating experience to watch our beloved New Orleans Saints win their very first Super Bowl in 2010.
Their return to the Super Dome in 2006 after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina had bolstered the city's determination to press on and recover. Four years later, they put an explanation point on their effect on this state by giving us a world championship!
Sean Payton is a coaching genius that recognizes and develops talent like few we have ever seen in the NFL. Drew Brees personifies everything we love about the game and continues to break records! 2019 was an incredible season with standout efforts from every segment of the team. Who knows? Maybe another Super Bowl win is in store for us next year! Who Dat!
7. My Marathon
I got into running as a healthy choice. I needed a regular form of exercise I could commit to and so I tried running. I began with a Couch-to-5K app and enjoyed it. Upgraded to the 10K version and then thought, "I wonder if I could do a half Marathon?" In 2013 I did it! In 2015 I did it again and thought, "What if I kept training? I wonder if I could do a full marathon?" Only 0.5% of Americans have done it. On February 28th I ran a marathon! 26.2 miles! My friends Paul Burke and Scott Holmes joined me. Training to run in a Marathon was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I am very proud of the accomplishment! My friend Shawn Reine told me before I started that it would be a spiritual experience and I thought that was silly, but he was right. You can go places in your head and heart when you are running mile after mile for days on end that you simply don't have time to get to in any other circumstance that I have experienced. I don't know if I will ever train for a full marathon again, but I have entered another half since then and I am definitely interested in continuing to use running as an exercise discipline.
6. The Presbytery
I grew up in the Assemblies of God. After surrendering to the call of God in my early twenties, I was credentialed with the Network but never really envisioned myself serving in a leadership capacity. In 2012 I began to see our network heading in a direction I wasn't comfortable with. My kids were feeling a call toward ministry and I knew I wasn't handing off the same Assemblies of God to them that my dad handed to me. After some encouragement from close friends and advisers, I allowed my name to be considered for the Presbytery and was elected to serve first in the Lafayette Section and later as Executive Presbyter for the Southwest Region as well as Executive Presbyter for the State on a national level. I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to serve in this capacity and help shape policy for our state. Under the leadership of my dear friend Scott Holmes, our network has grown in impact and effectiveness. I'm so proud of Scott and Kara and the job they are doing!
5. Twenty Years
In 1986, Donna and I joined the staff at Bethel Assembly of God in Lafayette as youth pastors. We served in that capacity for 8 years and then moved on to other assignments. In 1999, the church called us back to take on the role of Lead Pastors. We didn't realize it would end up being a life assignment, but I truly believe that it is. This year we celebrated 20 years as Lead Pastors! The church threw a surprise party that we didn't see coming, but was one for the record books! Video greetings were sent in from friends around the country. Friends like Scott and Kara Holmes, Tim and Tommie Gautreaux and Gary and Dee Sapp were there to join in on the celebration. The church even flew in my favorite singer of all time - Russ Taff! I don't know if I have another twenty in me, but I am absolutely ready to give this church and this region my best for as long as God will let me!
4. The New Building
In 2011 we started building our new auditorium. It was one of the most exhausting but rewarding seasons of my life. Our people were so generous and we were able to build the new build AND purchase the apartments behind us at the same time! The new auditorium has been such a blessing - not only allowing us to grow as a church and reach more people, but also to host amazing community wide events like concerts and conferences. One of the most special meetings we've held in it was a community-wide prayer meeting after the theater shooting here in Lafayette. People from every denomination crammed into the building to call on God to heal our city! How I long to see that kind of unity among God's people every day!
We were recently blessed to purchase an additional fifteen acres adjacent to our current property. That increases our footprint at the corner of I-10 and I-49 (really the gateway to the city) to 30 acres! This acquisition will allow us to once again host large outdoor gatherings like our LibertyFest on the 4th of July!
The next thing on the horizon for us is to go multi-site. Our hope is to plant additional campuses in South Lafayette, Crowley and Opelousas. The I-10 campus will continue to serve as our central campus, facilitating conferences, video resources and more.
3. Graduations
Over the past decade we were blessed to see our kids, Robin and Chase graduate High School and Bible College.
Donna homeschooled our children from Kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. She did an AMAZING job! Both of our kids scored well enough on their ACT's to merit a TOPS Academic scholarship. Both, however, opted to go through our Leadership College and graduated with degrees from WestCoast Bible College. Robin went on to obtain her ministerial credentials from the Assemblies of God. I am very proud of both of our kids and very proud of their mom as well!
As public schools continue to grow more incompetent and increasingly hostile toward faith, it is so important for parents to have choices for educating their children in an environment that both nurtures learning and faith in God. My wife gave our children that environment!
2. Robin's Wedding - 2016
Dad's believe no man is worthy of their daughter's hand in marriage. When Robin and Eli began dating we liked him right away. What's not to like? Great personality. Loves Jesus. Called into the ministry. Ok, there is that obsession he has with the Atlanta Falcons, but seriously - Eli is such a great young man. As nervous as a dad is to give his daughter's hand, I can honestly say I could not ask for a better son-in-law. He is great with her. Loving, caring and respectful - We are blessed.
Their wedding was beautiful. God gave us a GORGEOUS October day - sunny skies but not too hot, not too cold. A beautiful day fit for the beautiful bride! Robin was stunning! As I walked her down the aisle, I told her something I used to say to her every night when I tucked her in bed as a child. "If I had my choice of any little girl in the whole world to be my little girl, I would choose you!"
I was honored to serve them communion as their first act of marriage. I used my dad's old Scofield Bible to read from so he could have a part in the ceremony in a way. It was a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life.
I let Eli know that day that, although we didn't know him by name, we had been praying for him for twenty-five years. We continue to do so! We pray for our kids every day and we are so thankful for them!
1. Ezekiel
Without a doubt the greatest highlight of the decade was the birth of our first grandchild - Ezekiel Wilder Price. All my life I have heard people talk about how special grandchildren are. Those comments are usually accompanied by observations like, "Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own kids." I can't relate to that because we enjoyed our kids so much! So I always figured the 'grandkids are special' rhetoric was just people who didn't like their kids. I was wrong. It is special! I can't even explain it but there is nothing like it! All we want to do is be with him! We will do practically anything to get him to flash us that dazzling smile of his! Without a doubt one of the greatest things I have ever experienced is the first time I heard him call me "Poppy!" Being a good Poppy to this sweet boy is one one of the things I will work most diligently toward for the rest of my life!
It's great fun watching Robin and Eli raise him. They are doing a super job as mom and dad and we are very proud of them. We feel so fortunate that they live close by and we are able to see him several times each week. I grew up next door to my maternal grandfather and he had such a huge impact on my upbringing. I hope I can be a great influence in this little guy's life. We love him dearly!
