Wednesday, April 02, 2008

P.Y.F. (Packinghouse Youth Fellowship)

Hello All,

I was invited to speak at the Packinghouse tonight, to address the Youth Group. First, I thought I would thank Jeff Harry for the invitation, a young man who was once in my Junior High group. Jeff, should you read this, thanks for having me out. It was my privilege to be there. Second, to the youth that were there, you guys were fun to speak to. I would caution you not to laugh with guys like me as much as you did, because, as you saw, it only encourages them to continue in dorkdom!

I will tell you that the night was a much more powerful experience for me than I gave it credit for. I had sort of felt that I would walk onto campus and feel unaffected by the atmosphere. I walked onto campus, and the flood of memories just overpowered me. The smell of the orange grove, likely the last one in that part of Redlands, the look of the setting sun on the three buildings, even the stairs, evoked powerful memories for me.

You might wonder about the stairs. Let me tell you a story about me and my old office mate/surrogate older brother Attila. We used to compete in the most ridiculous ways with each other. For example, we had a door that you always needed a key to open. Often, I or he, would wait at the top of the stairs by the door. When he or I would come up the stairs, we would quickly close the door in the face of the other, and laugh hysterically when the other guy had to pull out his keys to get into the office! I would often be on the inside while Attila would be left reaching for his keys. "It's my blog, my story..."

With this as the background, we would often race each other to our office, so that we could get the one-up on the other guy. On this particular occasion, I was running toward the building when I tripped on the bottom stair, and subsequently sprained not one, but BOTH ANKLES!! UNREAL moment of pain. A testimony to our ridiculousness: Attila believed for a moment that I was faking it! And he was right to distrust me! I would have pulled that trick, but that time, a real injury occurred.

Alright, LARGE side-note! In any event, I came into the main sanctuary and every sight and sound brought me back. There were the thermostats that I monitored after each service for years. There was the soundboard that I stood by and talked with various soundmen and enjoyed the banter of the bands. There is that ancient overgrown, dolly thing that still has that fake grass type cover that we used to cart really large loads with.

And then there was the group of faces, excited to be there. I was reminded of the many faces that I watched come in and out of this sanctuary over the years. The people who were the most important to me on that weekly basis. It was amazing to me.

Speaking of amazing, the worship team! Incredible! Unreal! They set a great tone, and an easy transition for me to come up and speak in. The Nieves Family and Brad Bischoff, dear friends of mine, are a true blessing to the body of believers there at the Packinghouse. Oh, and the surprise of the evening: Libby Redinger! WOW! What a voice she has! I did not say this in front of the group, but I remember her when she was very, very little! It always makes me feel so old to say that...

All in all, it was tremendous evening for me personally, and I know that it was a blessing to at least 5 High Schoolers who responded to the message that the Lord ministered to their hearts. I pray that the Lord will solidify and plant that message into their hearts and that it would become life to them. I pray that they would continue, as a group, to walk excellently with the Lord!

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

15 comments:

Jeff and Aimee said...

You sprained BOTH ankles at the same time? I've never heard of such a thing! I'm surprised that story didn't make it onto KCAL 9 News. That's hilarious (in a somewhat sick and heartless way).

Frank And Lela said...

Jeff/Aimee,

It's hard to believe, but it happened. I can't even describe how the second (right) ankle was sprained. The first ankle was sprained when my left foot did not clear the second step. Today, it's a hilarious story...that day, it was ice and heat for 3 days!

With the way the news is nowadays, my story might have been more significant than the filler they usually use...

Blessings,
F.S.

Chris Fik said...

I smelled something that reminded me of a dead rat smell my mind immediately went to the packinghouse. i was there a little over a month ago and i, too was shocked at how weird it felt to be in that building.
Good memories.
ps Jeff said you tore it up

Frank And Lela said...

Chris,

Ah, the dead rats...how was it possible that they all died just above our 6'4 ceiling. The smells on those summer days in the I.E. just defied explanation.

Now, I'm going over to your blog...

Blessings,
F.S.

P.S. : No relation...I had to go down to San Clemente to get new glasses because mine broke. Guess which offramp and by what restaurant the place was!? That's right..."do you know where Pico is?..."

Chris Fik said...

speaking of..... how about we hit up some pick up stix someday soon?


PS i will work on getting some real stuff on my blog too.

Carrie Allen said...

what a fun night!

and hello Chris Fik, welcome to the blog world...

Cowen Family said...

Frank, Thank you for the walk down memory lane! It evoked some personal memories hearing you make that journey. Thank you for the memories:)
One more comment on the burrito: what about the best IE breakfast burrito? Our claim in on Bravo Burgers!

Frank And Lela said...

Mike/Hannah/Carrie,

Thanks for checking in guys!

Mike and Hannah, there are so many rooms and places at The Packinghouse where we prayed or talked, sometimes late into the evening.

And, we might just have to do the Breakfast Burrito thread someday, although, I concur that BB has the lead in my opinion as well.

Blessings,
F.S.

Chris Fik said...

definitely Bravo and they are well priced too.

Frank do you remember the Rat the would bend the ceiling tiles?

I think it was master splinter

Chris Fik said...

hey carrie
sorry i had forgotten to say hi on the last post
so hi
lakers

Carrie Allen said...

lakers?
i thought you were a dodgers fan?

kidding...i know what you were trying to say ;)

Frank And Lela said...

Hey Chris & Carrie,

Yeah, LAKERS!! Worthy of yet another thread someday! Like around June when we win yet another title in this decade!

Now, the rat that bent stuff...I don't remember. But I do remember hearing them at times. They sounded large!

Blessings,
F.S.

Jason said...

http://getsmartmovie.warnerbros.com/

Frank And Lela said...

"...would you believe..."

April said...

i remember being so mad that attila would lock the door to the office and i couldn't get in because for some reason i didn't have a key for awhile. and then i got one and i'd walk in on him changing...serves him right! :)