On Saturday, November 7, Bill and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary by making our marriage legal. If you are in Atlanta, you are welcome to join us for a very brief service (five minutes) and a party in the fellowship hall. If you want to do something for us, we are asking people to give a gift to Virginia-Highland Church’s building fund to help make the church more accessible. It is the last piece of the renovations that we still need to do. We want to repair the plaza in front of our building, install a chairlift, and make the restrooms gender neutral and wheelchair accessible.
Someone said that we were very gracious to do that, but I told them that we actually are being selfish. They looked at me strangely until I explained that if we had to have another capital campaign to finish the project we would have to make a pledge and it would cost us a lot of money. This way we get to share the joy with all of our friends.
The truth is we love the church, and supporting it with our time and money has made us very happy. From the beginning of our relationship, Bill and I decided to give 10 percent of what we make to the church. Back then, we made $17,200 … COMBINED. Our salaries eventually grew, though neither of us has ever earned six figures. Still, our lives are richly blessed. In time, we got to a place in our lives where we are able to give away 18 percent of what we earn. Oh, we could have driven a Lexus or a BMW, but I can’t imagine that would have given us nearly as much joy.
No, we are not asking our friends to give to the church out of a sense of nobility; it is a completely selfish request. Bill and I may need to use that lift someday. We will get to enjoy mimosas and petit fours on the plaza, and, frankly, we don’t have to clean the accessible restrooms. We really don’t need anything else to dust or clean or store. What we need are things we can feel good about, and those things are almost always used by others whose needs are much greater than ours.
Join us on November 7, if you are able, and have a piece of cake and a glass of champagne, and if you want to bless us give a gift to help the church be even more welcoming to everyone!
Blessings,
Rev, Michael Piazza