June 22, 2025. Packwood, Washington. Day 32 of 170
Today, we worshipped with our brothers and sisters at Packwood Foursquare Church in Packwood, Washington. We knew this would be a special day when, pulling into the parking lot, we saw a large Mama Elk crossing the lot with her calf. Just as we were getting out of the car, Carol greeted us warmly and walked us inside. She introduced us to several people, but none were more cheerful and joyous to see us than “Bobby.” Bobby explained her real name was Barbara, but her daddy had been expecting a boy named Bob, so “Bobby” became her nickname. At 86 years old, Bobby was filled with joy, gratitude, and energy. Her love for Jesus was contagious, and praising Him next to her became an experience to remember.
Packwood Foursquare is a small church, with only 40 people in attendance, but the love there was greater than 1,000 people could express in any one place. The pastor was on vacation, but Rob, a member of the congregation, hit a homerun with his sermon. He spoke in great detail about the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus but emphasized the words of the Apostle Paul found in 1 Corinthians 15:3: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
This church gave us real insight into the advantages of a small church. Before beginning the sermon, Rob patiently took prayer requests from everyone, writing each request on a sticky note to be later affixed to a nearby wall. After that, we broke for five minutes of fellowship that truly turned into 10 to 15 minutes, where we saw members ministering to each other, addressing those prayer requests, or simply loving on each other. With a population of less than 1,400 people to serve in Packwood, this church will never be called a mega-church, but in God’s economy, they are doing mega works!
After the service, we stayed to share our joy and love for Packwood. In return, we received great recommendations for hikes and places to visit. One of them was Tipsoo Lake. We headed there after the service and found the lake almost completely covered with snow. I took the plastic floor mats off the car to use them as sleds, and up the mountain, we went on a car floormat sledding adventure! We had a blast sledding and completed our Sunday wet, cold, but brimming with joy!
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