Thanksgiving in Virginia

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

In previous musings, I mentioned that in 1983 we left Heidelberg, West Germany, and rotated back to the United States.  Fred’s next assignment was to be at Langley AFB, in Hampton, Virginia.  We looked at lots of houses before settling on a house in the “woods” of Seaford, Virginia.  It was about 13 miles from Langley, but Fred didn’t mind the drive, and the schools in York County were top-notch.

We soon joined the local Southern Baptist Church – Seaford Baptist Church, and began our time there, not expecting our time to be longer than the usual three-year tour.  But God had other plans for us, and we stayed there nearly 13 years.

1991 – Seaford Baptist Church – old sanctuary (far left), classrooms, new sanctuary (right)

As the first Thanksgiving arrived, we were pleased to find that Seaford Baptist Church had a Thanksgiving tradition with Zion United Methodist Church, also in Seaford.  That tradition started years before we arrived on the scene.  

Zion United Methodist Church, Seaford, VA Credit Google Search and Zion United Methodist website

On the Wednesday evening before each Thanksgiving Day, there was a trade-off.  If the joint services were held in the Baptist church, then the pastor of the Methodist church gave the Thanksgiving message.  The Baptists hosted the service, the Baptist ladies furnished the after-service desserts, and the Baptist church choir sang the special music. 

The following year, the services were held in the Methodist church and the Baptist pastor gave the message.  The Methodist ladies furnished the after-service desserts, and the Methodist choir sang the special music.  It was a wonderful time – and the shared messages and fellowship time gave us opportunities to meet our Seaford neighbors, and worship together.  That’s the way I believe God intends us to do.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Fred and I wish you all the very best of Thanksgiving this year – and the blessing of thanks-giving to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We’ve been away from Virginia these 24 years, so we aren’t sure whether or not this tradition has continued.  We only hope it has.  It was a wonderful tradition.

To God Be The Glory

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.