Random thoughts ...

I know that this is your favorite when I do a post of my random thoughts, or you may be saying what is different from your other posts? Well, I know these posts make my wife nervous because she knows how really random my thoughts can be on a regular basis. So I should get some brownie points (or just brownies for that matter) for not doing this type of post more often.

We are going on vacation, starting tomorrow we will have a week of vacation. Just the wife and I, at a cottage on a lake a couple of hours from home. I can't wait, but I will since I still have a service to do tonight and we need to pack and load up.

High School musicals are generally fun. We attended one yesterday because a girl from our youth group was performing. She did well, the musical was done well and the sets were very, very good. My only question was why they made me share a program with my wife and wouldn't let me have one of my own. They charged $10 a ticket and sold advertising in the programs and I can't get one? But the muscial was good and the kids who performed deserve much praise.

It finally stopped raining, it rained most of Wednesday and Thursday and more than half of Friday. Yesterday and today have been wonderful. I hope this is the type of weather we get for vacation, but if not we stay in, read, play cards and just relax.

I get to try out my boat this week. Someone gave me a row boat. Stop laughing, I am thrilled to have any type of boat. My big concern is having to back it into place somewhere. I have had little practice backing up something that is being towed, and the few times I have done that have not been pretty. Fortunately it is light enough that I can just grap the end of the trailer and move it if necessary.

My butt, I mean rear end, is still sore from my Donkey Basketball experience (see earlier post). Some have asked for pictures. My wife took a couple, so if I can figure out how to transfer them from her phone to my blog I will give you something to laugh about (like I don't do that just by being me). Of course my wife had left by the time I made the game winning shot, but I am not bitter, really I'm not.

We had another good Sunday in a lot of ways. I will do a post about Sunday tomorrow if we really do have internet connection at our cottage, if not you will just have to wait.

I love seeing the hunger and growth in new believers. I had a couple of great conversations with people this morning that really encouraged me.

I love my wife. (Even though she missed me making the winning shot.)

The wife and I got to see all of our grandkids (and their parents) on Friday. We surprised one of our grandsons, he had a grandparents program in the afternoon. He didn't think we could make it, so the look on his face when he saw us was worth the long day of driving. Then we went to his house and saw his sister and brothers. We went further and spent some time with our newest grandchild. He is just 7 weeks old, but is a big boy. Got to hold him and feed him and watch him. Then we made the 3 hour trip home. It was worth it, but my sore rear was barking (bad choice of words) by the time we got home.

Here's hoping your week will bring you smiles, laughter, relaxation, fun and time with special people. If not, then be happy for me as I enjoy that type of week.

Ouch!

I survived the Donkey Basketball game (DBB from now on). I am sore in a lot of places. My back, right knee, right hip and shoulders are a little sore. Taking the garbage out to the curb this morning was a little more difficult than normal. My team won and my associate Pastor was on the other team so that made it even better. I scored a few baskets including the eventual winning shot. I missed several shots, hey you try shooting one handed while riding a twisting, bucking, stinking donkey!

Good news, I didn't get kicked (close calls not withstanding), I avoided all donkey poop, I didn't have to scoop any poop, I didn't get throwed to the floor (several others did), there was a big crowd (maybe that isn't such a good thing) and my team won.

Bad news, those little critters are not easy to get and stay on, at least not when you are trying to play basketball, I am sore and well I think that is all the bad news for now, as the day wears on I might feel some more bad news.

I want to say that some of the "riders", and I use that term loosely, were big chickens. I also must confess that I did not end up with any of the most difficult donkeys. There were 3 or 4 who kicked and bucked most of the time whenever someone tried to get on them (wouldn't you?). Some gave me a hard time for not trying those donkeys, I prefer to think of it as being intelligent. There was much laughter, mainly from the watching crowd. I will confess that playing DBB is much harder physcially than I imagined. I was gassed when it finished. Tugging those beasts around when going after loose balls, trying to ride and stay on, trying to avoid being kicked and then trying to defend, pass, catch passes and shoot while doing all of this was tiring.

Money was raised for the community, people got to laugh at me (hey I am used to that one) and I met some new people.

Here's hoping my soreness gets better as the day wears on. Here's hoping people were entertained. Here's hoping you feel better than I do today. Here's hoping you get a chance to play DBB sometime in the future and that get to laugh at, I mean cheer you on.

Donkeys & Days Off ...

Tonight I am participating in a Donkey Basketball game, this game is sponsored by our community festival fund raising committee. I have never even seen a Donkey Basketball game, let alone rode in one. I am hoping for a short, cooperative donkey. One person associated with the group sponsoring the event told me they were pretty sure I was getting a tall, stubborn one. I want a short one so I can stand up whenever I want.

Do you actually play any basketball or is just a time of humiliating those who ride? And don't forget those who are the "pooper scoopers". I have heard stories of donkeys who just sit down and refuse to move and others who flip their riders off. (I assume that refers to the riders being ejected from the donkey's back not the donekys flipping off the riders, but like I said I have never been to one of these things.) I am beginning to get a little nervous about this whole thing.

I promise to share about the experience in the next couple of days.

In four days my wife and I are going to get away for a few days of vacation. I can't wait. I am ready for some vacation time. After this Donkey game I may need some time off. I may need to get a seat cushion for my row boat after tonight.

Here's hoping I am able to type a post tomorrow. Here's hoping that I get a cushioned donkey. Here's hoping that the "scoopers" are quicker than the "poopers". Here's hoping you find your own form of entertainment tonight, hey if you live close by come on over there is sure to be plenty of laughter all around.

Something to think about...

I heard from a college aquaintance this week who has a child that is about to go on a year mission trip. His child will be going to work in their field of expertise and while there will be working as a missionary as well. I don't even know the name of the country for sure, it is one of those countries where you have to be very careful since they do not want missionaries. I saw, and heard the mix in his voice. The mixture of pride in seeing his child be obedient to the call of God on their life and the fear that a parent always carries for each of their children, when you sense the child may be in danger. It was also difficult to fathom going more than a year without seeing your child.

It caused me to reflect on my own children. I remember when they were babies, that my wife and I dedicated them to the Lord. We said that they were the Lord's children and we agreed for Him to do His will in their lives. That is easy to say when you are holding them in your arms and you know they can't do much without your help. But it is another thing as they grow and mature. When they start, as they should, making decisions for themselves. It is another thing altogether when they begin driving (insert a pained expression here) and you realize that life will never be the same for either one of you. Then when they graduate, as you hope they will, and they go off to college or to work. (You hope that they will go to work sometime if they go to college.) I have always enjoyed and celebrated all of these movements into maturity and independence with my kids. But I have always held some apprehension as well. Not because I was worried about them, but I was concerned for them.

I can say with certainty, and relief, that my kids have made good choices and are leading lives that I am proud of. I am thrilled that they are following the Lord, are involved in their churches and they like each other and we all love being together. But I also confess that I still worry at times, that I will always be concerned for them and I probably pray as much, if not more, for them now as I did when they were living at home. (With the possible exception of potty training time, first driving trips and when they dated certain people.) It is just part of being a parent.

Maybe it was my conversation with my friend, or just being at my conference this week, but whatever the reason I have thought much of what I would do if my kids followed the Lord's leading to another country. I can honestly say that I would be bursting with pride in their courage and obedience. But I also must confess that I would be worried and it would be hard to go a year, let alone 2 or 3 years, without seeing them. But I would not want them to stay close because of me, I would want them to go where God was leading them.

You see I gave them to the Lord when they were born and asked Him to do His will in their lives. For me to now go back on that would make no sense. I hope they realize that I not only want what is best for them, but that I want God's best for them above all.

Here's to my friend, I will be praying for him and his child a lot. Here's to my children and grandchildren, love the Lord and do His will. Here's to you, I pray that you will know what it is to follow God's will, in whatever, wherever and whenever He leads. Here's to pride and prayer, being proud of those who follow the Lord and praying for them wherever they go. Here's hoping that we will all be obedient right where we are and wherever He leads us.

Monday's Musings...

I am actually typing this late Monday night in a hotel room while at conference. I left home shortly after church yesterday afternoon and have been in meetings ever since (it actually feels like longer than that). Worship on Sunday morning was awesome! There was a great spirit, people were very responsive, they were almost charismatic (that is really saying something for our group), most everything worked technologically, we had several families attend for the 2nd or 3rd time and we didn't have enough chairs set up. I have already gotten some emails about yesterdays service (all positive, how cool is that?) and some others talked with me personally.

We also had the largest Sunday School attendance we have had in quite a while. Our youth classes went out during Sunday School and did a service project that had people in town talking already. Our 3rd-4th grade Sunday School class has been doing prayer walks and they are really having an impact. Our Worship attendance was the best, with the exception of Easter, that we have had in quite a while. A sporadic attender told someone last week that when they looked around church they didn't recognize a lot of people, they added it was a good thing, but realized our church is changing and beginning to grow.

Within the first 10 minutes of arriving at my conference last night I spoke with two pastors who are really discouraged. I have since discovered that about a few more pastors. I am really feeling for those pastors and am trying to figure out if there is anything I can do besides pray for them and tell them to hang in there.

Here's hoping you are not discouraged. Here's hoping that you will encourage your pastors this week. Here's hoping that you will be encouraged this week. Here's hoping that my meetings tomorrow go better than today.

Thursday's Thoughts ...

Here we go again, another Thursday following another Wednesday. I have now had two Wednesday nights in a row without a meeting following church, it felt good to get home before 9 o'clock. The negative was that my wife is gone. The good news is she is watching 4 of our grandchildren so that our son and daughter-in-law could get away for a couple of days. She is loves to do this, to be with the kids and to help the parents, it is part of what we envisioned when we were able to move closer to our kids. We used to be 8-11 hours away now we are 2-3 hours from all of them. She also got to spend a little time with our 5th grandchild, the one born 6 weeks ago today. I am glad that she can do this, but I miss her.

Our weather is now beginning to feel like spring, and it feels great. Since my wife is gone I am vehicleless (just made up that word) so I have been walking more and even rode a bike out to the bank today. It is my wife's bike, there was a lot of wind, and I am out of shape. My legs are killing me. (insert your own sympathetic phrase here)

I am really struggling with this Sunday's message. I feel some obligation to address the whole tragedy at Virginia Tech, but not sure about how to bring that into the direction in which God has been leading us. I sure don't want to mess up the momentum God has created, but don't want to miss an important opportunity either.

I had another encouraging encounter with someone today. They have had some limited contact the church, it has increased recently, and the response from them today was very positive. They were thankful for some recent encouragement I had given and were very positive about attending our church again. We have been having a couple visits each month recently from people who were just showing up. No real urging by anyone, just heard about things and wanted to check us out. The grapevine about us in the community is turning toward the positive. That is awesome!

Here's hoping you are enjoying the weather where you are and realizing that God is still God no matter the weather. Here's hoping you can find some encouragement today. Here's hoping that I don't make too big of a mess while my wife gone, and that what I do mess up I will get cleaned up before she returns.

Legacies and Memories...

The terrible tragedy of the mass murders at Virginia Tech University has prompted many emotions in all of us. Shock, feeling sick to our stomach, sympathy for the families of the victims, wondering if the college students we know are safe and all kinds of feelings about the young man who took so many lives. It has also caused many to think about those we love, and fuel our desires to contact loved ones and remind them of how much they mean to us.

All of this has also triggered some thoughts and memories for me. Dealing with memories of my loved ones reminded me of some of the legacy that I am privileged to enjoy. I am truly blessed when I think of much of my family legacy. I was raised in a very loving, Christian home with parents who loved me and my brother and loved each other very much. My brother (he is older than me, he is good brother and I bugged him a lot growing up) were talking a few years ago about marriage and about our parents marriage. We both agreed that we assumed it was simple, find the one you love, get married and then have a great marriage. Mom and Dad made it seem so easy and their love was so obvious. We both have great marriages but laughed about our discovery that it was quite that simple. I had two sets of loving, hard-working, Christian Grandparents. Both of my grandfathers were farmers, well respected in their communities and did a lot of serving in their churches. I only know much about one of my sets of Great-grandparents, but I know that they were wonderful, Christians as well. I have had great uncles and aunts, wonderful cousins, yada, yada, yada. Don't misread this, there have been problems and heartaches, but I am truly blessed. When I married I tapped into another group of people who have meant a lot to me and blessed my life.

One of the streams of my legacy is that of Chrisitan service. My great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, all served in their respective churches. From teachers, to treasurers, to board members, to mowing lawns, and much more. There is also the issue of pastoral service. I am a pastor, my son is a pastor, my dad was a pastor, my brother pastored for several years, one of my great-grandfathers was a pastor and evangelist, a nephew is a part-time staff member and a cousin is a pastor. That is a lot of pastors, and I probably left out some from the past. There was never any expectation, or assumption, of becoming a pastor, at least not for me. But the example and heritage has been invaluable.

I have great memories and great legacies to follow. Here's hoping that you have great memories and legacies of your own, and if not that you are determined to create them in your life and family. Here's to the families who lost loved ones so suddenly, violently and way too young this week. Here's hoping that we all are hugging our own loved ones a little tighter and praying for those who now have empty arms.

Monday Musings ...

Sunday was an absolutely great day! Wow, God is really doing something great things in our church, community and individuals lives. The Spirit in our services, both morning and evening, was outstanding. This was true in spite of missing our pianist and having a few glitches during the service. Just goes to show that God is bigger and better than all that stuff. We had more new people and families who attended and a couple of families who returned from Easter Sunday. I had 13 come to a Membership Information class, just to put it into perspective 3 attended that last one. Our attendance was okay, not outstanding, but good nonetheless. The message went okay but the spirit and people's attentiveness was wonderful. The result was several at the altar to ask God to show them who they are to reach, to confess their lack of effort in reaching people or to receive Christ for themselves. It was a "God thing" for sure.

There were many people who spoke to me on Sunday, and already today, about who they are being led to reach or what they are being led to do to reach people for Christ. What an exciting time this, and it should get even more exciting as we move ahead. One of the neatest things from Sunday morning was a 3rd-4th grade Sunday School class did a prayer walk during their class time and walked in our worship center praying. They went into the rows, prayed at specific seats, prayed on the platform for the worship and at the podium for me. It is no coincidence that the Spirit was so great in the service.

Plans are underway for a big change for the summer in our Sunday evening service time. I called it our Sunday Evening Summer Shake-up when I presented it to the board last week. They enthusiastically approved the plan. Now I just have to get it all organized, present it to the church and see what God is going to do through these changes.

It looks like our weather might be getting closer to springlike temperatures this week. At least during the day, the nights are still going to have moments in the 30's, but we have sunshine today and we are to see the 50's some this week.

Here's hoping you are seeing people around you who are in need. In need of Christ as Savior, in need of some help with something, in need of encouragement, in need of a listening ear or something else altogether. Here's hoping that you reach them in this time of need and let God do His thing.

A Winter Wedding ...

It wasn't supposed to be, but the wedding I officiated yesterday turned out to be a winter wedding. Ironically this couple originally looked to get married in March, but decided it might be cold and moved the wedding back to the middle of April so it would be warmer. Instead what they got was at least an inch of snowfall and temperatures in the low 30's. It was snowing so hard as the wedding finished that the Limo that was to take them away from the church arrived late because he was driving in a "whiteout". (If you are in a warm weather state call a relative in the northern midwest and ask them what a "whiteout" is. Hint, it has nothing to do with hiding a mistake on a typed page.) Don't get me wrong, they still got married, they still made it to the reception, the bride was still beautiful, the church was full and everything went well. This leads me to some wedding thoughts...

My top reasons people attend a wedding (I am discounting the "I have to because they are related to me" reason.) These are not necessarily in order:

People come to see the bride enter. They come to smile at the ring bearers and flower girls come down the aisle. This reason has the cute factor going for it and people (other than the kids parents) are secretly hoping the young kids will do something unexpected while entering or existing. People come for the kiss and the introduction as Mr. and Mrs. People come for the reception.

People to not come to hear the minister. I learned this one a long time ago and committed to make sure I do not talk too long in a ceremony (that's what Sunday morning sermons are for). I am to guide everyone through a relatively seamless ceremony that culminates in a celebration of a new life beginning together.

I wish more people paid as much attention to the marriage following a wedding as they do for that 30 to 45 minutes on a given Saturday afternoon. By more people I am referring to the audience as well as the bride and groom. If we as friends and family would show the same kind of concern for their marriage as we did for their wedding maybe many of our friends and family would not struggle as much in their marriage nor divorce so easily. (That concludes my rant for today, at the rant I will post for today.)

Random Thoughts ...

Not that I have any other kind of thought the majority of the time, it is just that sometimes I like to warn people that my thoughts are random. These random thoughts get me in trouble occasionally, like when I am preaching and I share a random thought that pops into my head. That has led to my wife usually sitting in back of the church when I am preaching.

*What's with this weather? I had to scrape off the window of my car when I went outside after a lunch meeting today. I can take the fickleness of the Midwestern weather as well as the next person, but on April 11 this just shouldn't be, especially since it has been this way for a week!

*I love my wife. This summer we will celebrate 32 years of marriage. She is awesome. She is going to have extra layers of jewels on her crown in heaven just for being married to me for that long. When she checks into heaven and they notice who she was married to, they are going to say "c'mon in and rest honey, we it hasn't been easy for you up until now."

*My newest grandson is growing like crazy. He is way up the chart on the whole percentile thing Doctors use to measure kids. It will be a little while before I see him again, but my daughter and son-in-law have sent some pictures. He looked like a little guy, not an infant, in his Easter outfit. (Enjoy it for now mom, because it won't be long before he won't want you to call anything he wears "an outfit".)

*The pants I have on today change color depending on how the light hits them.

**We are going on a week's vacation in about 2 and a half weeks. I can't wait, well I can wait I just wish I didn't have to wait. This year I am going to try and take all of my vacation time, something I haven't done in many years.

*I am blessed by a rich family heritage. From my parents, to grandparents, to aunts and uncles, and even my cousins. There are great memories and even greater blessings from them all.

*Being a pastor has its ups and downs. Fortunately the ups are so much greater and impacting than the downs.

*Winter can't last much longer, can it?

*I lost my first week of fantasy baseball.

*God has great things in store for our church if we will really embrace His vision and give ourselves to His will. We have had some wonderful contacts and opportunities recently to really impact our community.

*He is risen! He is risen indeed!

* I have a church board meeting tonight. This will make 6 straight Wednesday nights that I have had a meeting after church on a Wednesday. (Did I mention vacation in 2 and a half weeks?)

*I am excited for the future.

Here's hoping you have something to look forward to, and that you believe the future will be exciting.

Monday Morning Musings ...

Wow what a super Easter Sunday! Not the weather, that stunk. We awoke to the ground being covered with snow. Not everything technically, we had some definite glitches there. A CD that had worked fine in practice decided to skip at the beginning of a song during the service so it took about 6 tries to get it to work. Not in timing, we got started late and it dominoed (is that a word?) through the rest of the service. Most people were not aware of the timing thing, because our people did such a great job of rolling with what was happening and I made sure we finished on time. Not the attendance, we were down from last year, but had several visitors and newer people attend. We had some awesome contacts with those who attended. What made yesterday such an awesome Easter is that several people made the decision to accept Jesus as their personal Savior!!! It doesn't get any better than that.

My public prayer had been that even if things didn't go as we planned we wanted the Spirit to impact people and to know that some accepted Christ as their Savior. So when some of the above things happened the Lord checked me in my spirit and asked if I was serious about what was most important. Wow, fortunately I made the right choice and I really am pumped up about what happened.

The people of my church really came through with how they greeted people and talked with them after the service, it was great. People were inviting people over for dinner, some ahead of time and others who were planned to reach out to people who had no one to be with and were inviting them to dinner. How great is that? I think we are getting this church thing, it is not about us, it is about the Lord and those He has called us to reach.

Saturday evening we had a pancake and sausage supper and we intended to have a brief service around a bonfire at our house. The bonfire was cancelled since it was about 25 degrees Saturday evening, but the supper was a lot of fun. The thing I want to brag about was the way our people, many of them, pitched right in and helped clean up. Instead of assuming that my wife and I would take care of things in the kitchen since we put it together, they just cleaned everything up and asked to do more. We were so blessed by that, we have been some places where the church just assumed we would do it. The other places were not bad, but this was so encouraging to us. To my church, you are great.

Here's hoping you remember that Jesus is alive. He is alive and well and you can have Him as your Savior.

Easter Greeting!

He is Risen! (The traditional response for believers is "He is risen indeed".)

What a story!

While sitting in our community Good Friday service yesterday afternoon I had that phrase just keep running through my mind, "What a story"! The story, a historical fact, of Jesus Christ being crucified is remarkable. The remarkable part is not that the Roman government crucified someone. For at that time in history this was not that unusual, criminals, rebels and the lot were crucified. The Romans were good at it too. This is considered the cruelest form of capital punishment. It is extremely painful, physically and emotionally, it generally causes the person to linger near death for a long time and had to be hideous to watch. The remarkable part was not even that someone who was simply considered a religous teacher was put to death, for if anyone was considered a threat to the Roman government, or sometimes even an inconvenience might be put to death. Given the uproar that Jesus caused among the religious leaders of Jesus' time, it is not remarkable that he w0uld be falsely accused and tried.

The remarkable part of the story is that Jesus went to this willingly. He did not protest, He did not point out the discrepancies in their stories, He did not hire counsel, He did not defend himself, in fact He went to the cross willingly. He didn't do this because He was unaware of the pain, reference His time of prayer before His arrest. He knew what He was walking into, and yet He went willingly. Why, why would someone put themself in this position? I truly believe I would sacrfice myself for my wife, my children, my daughter or son-in-law, and my grandchildren. But would I do it for others? For strangers, or even more difficult for my enemies? That is the remarkable part of this story. Jesus went to the cross for everyone, including those of us who were yet to come.

Jesus even asked for forgiveness for those who were crucifying Him. Wow, what a story! Then even more remarkable, He came back to life. He is alive! As the old hymn says, "because He lives I can face tomorrow". Since He is alive I can have life and live it to the full. What a remarkable story!

Have you considered this true story for yourself? Have you accepted the life that Jesus has offered you? A life of forgiveness and adventure? Here's hoping that you will look at this story with a renewed spirit this Easter. Here's hoping you are inviting others to join you this Easter. Here's hoping your Easter is full of hope, the hope that comes from accepting Jesus' sacrfice. Here's hoping you don't get snowed out on Easter.

What will I do?

Wow, what a statement! I was reading Perry Noble's blog this morning, he is a pastor in South Carolina I believe the church is called New Spring, he was telling about having Matthew Barnett speak at their churhc. Matthew Barnett leads the Dream Center in the city of angels in California (that is LA for the uninitiated), I have read his account of God building that incredible church and ministry and it is fascinating. As Barnett spoke at New Spring Perry Noble recounted some of his statements, but one really hit me today. The quote from Barnett was "I know of people in the Bible who stood in the way of God's dreams - and they died". Wow, what a statement!

My eyes filled with tears as read and re-read that statement. Then I prayed and begged God not to let that be said of me. I want to be a dream follower of God's, not a dream killer. I want to see and follow God's dreams and plans for me and my church. I have always considered myself somewhat of a visionary, but I have to face the facts that I have not been that way in the past few years. I allowed some stuff to quench the dreaming part of me. That is a crushing realization.

Reading Matthew Barnett's comments was a bit of a wake up call for me. I have said often, mostly in the past, that if you are going to dream you might as well dream big, after all dreams are free. It is following and fulfilling them that is costly. But they are worth the price when they are God's dreams. It is worth it to a life transformed by Christ. It is worth it to see hope restored to someone who thought their life or situation was hopeless. It is worth it be a part of God's miracle movement in a church body. It is worth to see families restored. It is worth it to follow God's dream even if you don't see all of it fulfilled. It is worth it, period.

I want to see so much more in my church. I believe that God has positioned us to really make a difference in our town, county and region. I believe that God has great things, true "God things", in mind for us. We must beleive and follow the dream. We must pray for it, work for it, give to it and give God all the credit when it happens. I have to lead the way. I haven't been doing that, forgive me.

What are you dreaming for from God? What you believing God to do in your life, family, church and community? What has God already shown you that He wants to do?

Here's hoping you see God's dreams. Here's hoping you will take the opportunity and work for God's dreams. Here's hoping that Easter Sunday is a beginning for some of those dreams. Here's hoping that I can really get back to dreaming, vision casting, big thing believing ways.

Are you kidding me?

It is April 4, we had temperatures in the upper 70's yesterday and today it may not get out of the 30's. They are predicting temps in the 30's for the rest of the week with snow possible. Are you kidding me? I know this is the Mid-West and weather changes often and quickly, but this is ridiculous. I mean a 40 degree drop in temperature in less than a day, and snow when flowers are popping up and lawns are being mowed?

This is part of why I love this part of the country and also part of why I get frustrated. But hey it is exciting, yeah that is the way I need to view this dramatic change. It is exciting. Very exciting.

I put on a sweater and pulled out the winter coat this morning, after starting to wear short sleeves and no coat or jacket most days. How exciting! Yes, exciting, not frustrating, not maddening, but excited. That is my new mantra about the weather, it is excting.

Now maybe if I click my heels, while holding some mutt in my arms, I can transport back to the weather of yesterday. Anybody got any red shoes I can borrow?

Monday Musings ...

I just missed getting to this in time to call it Monday Morning Musings, but since it is 12:01 I will be honest and just call it Monday Musings. Yesterday was a very good Sunday. Especially for a first Sunday of Spring Break week.

We had some technical glitches during worship and we were missing some of our musicians, but worship went well. There was a good spirit in the service. It helped that some of our children did a special song where they signed the words. They did very well and they were cute doing it. (Cute is good because I certainly can't do cute anymore. Twenty years from now I might be able to do cute again, you know the "he is such a cute old guy" stuff.) People were very attentive during the message. We had some attending that are exciting, given the background. It was the first Sunday of Spring Break, but our attention was only about 8% below the week before. That is excellent for the first Spring Break Sunday around here. Sunday evening we shared Communion and it was a very good service, with some good testimonies and a good attendance given the day.

There seems to be a good spirit of anticipation for the future in our church. That is such an exciting turnaround from a year and a half ago when we arrived. I had someone today comment that they believe things are really ready to grow. That is a big part of the battle in growth, both spiritually and numerically, to have people believing it can and will happen.

Here's hoping this is an awesome Easter week. Here's hoping you will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior this week. Here's hoping you get at least one Cadbury easter egg this week.