L. A. HAPPENINGS—Charles Anderson Sunday was a great day here at Laurel Avenue, wasn’t it?! It was one of our best attended days of the year—not only to worship the Lord, but also to honor our mothers. Proverbs 31 portrays the ideal woman as one who is strong, dignified, and caring, which many people reflect upon on Mother’s Day. Verses 25-28 highlight the value of a mother who provides wisdom, encouragement, and love to her family. Verse 28 says: “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” Ephesians 6:2 also reminds us to honor our parents: “‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise—‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’” This call to honor our mothers aligns with the spirit of Mother’s Day, encouraging us to show gratitude, respect, and love for the women who raised us. Although the Bible doesn’t mention Mother’s Day as a holiday, it is clear that honoring and celebrating mothers is deeply woven into biblical principles of love and respect. Sunday was also special for us here because we were blessed to have Ralph Burris share a lesson from God’s Word with us. When we asked Ralph to preach this past Sunday, I couldn’t help but think: later this year I will turn 75 (which in “new math” terms is 39!) Ralph just celebrated 76 years of preaching! No matter how you figure it—new math or old math—he’s been preaching longer than I’ve been alive! And even more amazing, he continues to do it so well and without hardly slowing down. He will be in Indiana for the next couple of weeks on one of his many sojourner mission trips and he will be preaching at one of the congregations of the Lord’s church in that area. Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention that last Friday Ralph just celebrated his 95th birthday?! I’m thinking he should have a battery named after him! How about a contest to see who can come up with the best “battery” name? One last reminder: Our first (annual?) “Brupper” is coming up on Saturday, May 24. It will be held in the fellowship hall at 5 pm. Now, we all know that in the Churches of Christ we spell fellowship E-A-T. So, I’m thinking food has to be involved. I can hardly wait to discover if I’m correct. Won’t you join me, and let’s find out for sure. We also just found out that Louise Wright will be visiting with us that weekend. We will have a get together in the fellowship hall on Friday, May 23 at 5 pm to give everyone a chance to catch up with Louise and what’s going on in her life. She misses her Laurel Avenue family and we miss her as well, so we’ll see you there.