Things were still Done On Time#8217; at Bloom 2006 Staff 12/30/2006 I seem to be spreading myself too thin lately and made up my mind to soon change that situation. However, instead of eliminating a f

Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 30, 2006

I seem to be spreading myself too thin lately and made up my mind to soon change that situation. However, instead of eliminating a few activities, I only added to them.

My busy schedule includes memberships in four organizations, a part-time job, visiting my father in a Chesapeake nursing home, and traveling. Since I am so blessed being able to get around so much in this way, I am also guilty of neglecting one of the most important organizations that I should be putting first—IMPACT Suffolk.

This organization was formed to encourage, love and unity in the body of Christ. I am on the executive board by the insistence of its president, Dot Dalton. Every time a meeting is held, another committee member, Rosa Lynch, calls to inform me or puts the date of a meeting on my answering machine. When I make excuses as to why I am not able to attend, Dalton is still so very kind and says, “Just come when you can.”

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When I received the latest call, about a week before the last meeting,

I made a promise to myself that I would attend, and my name be taken off the list of committee members since I just wasn’t doing my part.

Meetings are held at Copico in the shopping center on Godwin Boulevard, and when I arrived, everyone greeted me with hugs and kisses.

About 12 of us attended and the meeting agenda was passed out. The discussion came up about June 10, the March for Jesus and Praises in the Park events. I felt a little guilty when the discussion about the low attendance was brought up, because at that time, I was in New Jersey.

Someone said that the good thing about that day was that those who attended and participated seemed very glad to be there. However, the testimony that really got to me was the one made by Don Milner, the pastor of Suffolk Pentecostal Holiness Church. He told how a group from his church, called God Chasers, was the last one to sing. There were only a handful of people still there, so the chorus was given the option that they didn’t have to perform. However, he said that those in the group all agreed that they came to sing for God. When they began their third or fourth song, Milner said that he noticed a man outside the fence on a bicycle riding up closer to the fence. The man stopped, listened to the group sing, and when the group finished its set of songs, they were asked to sing another one leading into a prayer. In the meantime, a group of members from his church walked over to the man who he said gave his heart to the Lord at that event. Milner said that he also learned that some people were healed.

These stories made me change my mind about staying on the committee. Another event was scheduled for Saturday June 17 from 6-10 p.m., Bloom 2006 at the YMCA Childcare Center—a Christian Concert. After Dalton asked for volunteers, I told her that I would assist her.

During that event, I shared with Dalton my former intention to get off the committee, but after hearing the testimonies at the meeting at Copico, I had decided to stay. She then shouted, “Praise the Lord.” She also shared with me that she had been asking God to send another active member to IMPACT Suffolk from East End Baptist Church, since one had recently moved to Chesapeake after her husband died, and another had moved to

California to live with her daughter. I then promised her that I would try to be a more active member of the organization in the future.

Now I know what the D-O-T of Dalton’s first name symbolizes. I might not have done things in the past at the time she would have wanted me to do them, but they were still “Done On Time,” time enough for me to render my service at Bloom 2006. And since it is very difficult to come up with interesting columns every week, time enough for me to write this one. Praise the Lord!

Wall is a former News-Herald reporter and contributor to the Town Square Page.