By Sally Lyberger

In the late 1980’s I was sitting at the breakfast table, and I happened to read an article in the local Loudoun Times Mirror Newspaper. The headline asked, “Do your children look like hobbits?”

I lowered the paper, and gazed at them across the table – ages, 6 and 9 – cute little round faces and bright eyes.  I thought, yes they do! I asked them if they would like to try out for a show that would be singing and acting onstage. They both said YES!!  They tried out the following Saturday, and both got roles in The Hobbit, and we joined the Blue Ridge Alliance for the Performing Arts.

Soon a big musical came up, and they both tried out to be in “Oliver” by Charles Dickens. This show ended up with 90 children in the cast. You see, the director of the show was very knowledgeable about how to fill the theater. She knew that 90 children and 50 adults bring neighbors, and grandparents and friends, aunts and uncles, teachers, etc. who pay good money for tickets!  

At the time, the music director for Galilee UMC, Ron Dyer, was also the very talented Music Director for “Oliver”. We became friends during rehearsals and shows, and I shared that I had been looking for a good Methodist Church that we could join. Ron asked me if I would come and worship at Galilee! No one had ever asked in quite that way. 

I came the next Sunday, and everyone was friendly, and welcoming to me and my kids.  I joined the choir, and participated in several church activities. My parents joined as well, and the kids loved attending with their grandparents. Both of my parents passed away several years later within 18 months of each other, and I clung to my church family for support. I went through a harrowing divorce, and they stayed with me.

About that time a nice man named Tim also joined the choir, and we became friendly.  Long story short after two years – we decided to think about marriage. We took part in marriage counseling from Pastor Wayne and joined a marriage small group, and began to plan a wedding.  We asked if we could help in the Youth Program, as we both enjoyed being with teens. After we finished marriage counseling and planned a date we invited the whole church to our wedding; and they came!

The first couple weeks leading youth group were a little rough. After the second week, one young man asked if he could take the left-over snacks and drinks home, and then he looked at me and said, you WILL come back next week, right?  It will get better.

And so we began the most wonderful times of our lives! We were volunteer youth leaders for nearly 11 years!  We went on mission trips, took the whole group out to dinner (they brought their own money!) each week after our Youth Praise and Worship service on Tuesday nights, which was called Ignite! At Ignite one youth preached and our youth praise band sang. We had constant help and support from many parents every week.

We rode a rented school bus and attended the National Acquire the Fire event on a road trip to Pontiac Michigan which was held in the Silver Dome with 87,000 youth and their leaders and many parents.  

We traveled to Sneedville, Tennessee, we worked with Habitat for Humanity doing construction (you can ask Rebecca Makowski about that after church!). Mary Lacy and Rashni and Joe Butler were also part of our youth group.  We had youth over at our house many times a week, rough housing with Tim, playing football in the front yard. We attended the 30 Hour Famine in support of World Vision, we went to Ocean City, Maryland for huge youth conferences, we went on ski trips (and blew a fuse because13 crock pots and several hair dryers all plugged in at once) and we attended Chrysalis weekends.

As Tim finished up his BA degree and was looking toward graduate school, he applied for a paid position as Director of Youth Ministry at Pender UMC in Fairfax. The hardest decision ever was to leave Galilee, but it allowed him to quit his job with the county and do youth ministry full time. We hated leaving our youth at Galilee, but we went, and we enjoyed 12 years with Pender UMC youth. 

In 2009 Tim was diagnosed with cancer. He fought that disease with everything he had, with the support and help of the Sydney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Hospital.  He  finally succumbed to disease in 2017. He was at work on October 31^st to close the Pender Pumpkin Patch, and passed away on November 2^nd. Tim’s Celebration of Life was a rocking praise and worship celebration attended by Pender and Galilee brothers and sisters, adults who knew us from years ago, many of our youth who had grown up, finished college, gotten married, even some who had children. They all came, and several spoke during the service. It was like we were never apart. They were there when I needed them so badly.  

After Covid, when the first in-person service was held at Galilee, I needed to come back and see if it still felt the same. People came up to me and said, “Oh, you’re back!  Welcome!”  I wanted to say, do you know it’s been almost 15 years?  One of our former youth, Candice Velasquez, was having her newest child baptized that day.  I was home. 

That’s why I love my church – they share the love of Christ Jesus.