Christmas Time's A-Comin"

It's that time of year again when the air smells cold and you hate to go shopping but you love to go shopping. Grocery bills are more expensive because of all the cream cheese and sugar and cans of blueberries. The stores even have a special display of all the high-calorie cooking foods to "remind" you of what to get.

In this crazy era of political correctness, to us it's still Christmas Day, Christmas tree, Christmas songs, Christmas lights, not substituting the word holiday. Sometimes we care so much about not offending minorities of any creed or race, we lost sight of what something really is.

Christmas is Jesus' birthday, pure and simple. I suppose the Magi bearing gifts can be said to have started the gift-giving part, but Santa Claus stuck himself in there somewhere and took over.

I'm sitting here with my hamstring hurting and a kitchen full of pounds just waiting for me to put them together. Oh Lord I feel like I fail sometimes in remembrance of what You stand for. Help me not get caught up in anything except sharing and love this season. Saturday night the church folk come and I'm looking forward to this. Guess that may call for a Lortab 7.5 that night but I love 'em!

Church

It's amazing how church is thriving right now. We keep growing....and somehow inactive members are coming out of the woodwork and trickling back in. The texture of the congregation has changed, and that in itself is part of the reason they give for coming home.

We prayed for kids for so long. Now I wonder where these kids are coming from? And they're showing up Sunday night and Wednesday night, not just Sunday morning. There's such a sweet spirit when you enter the front door. You can feel the love.

The music program is so good now. One, no two, guys who we'd never in a million years expected to be singers, sound like professionals. Not only does each one sing on key, but they work with our superb pianist well.

We're a small church and we had set a goal for 40 in Sunday school. So when we reached that goal, the pastor and deacons had to sing a song. The next goal is 50 in Sunday school, then the preacher's wife and deacons' wives will have to do the same. Oh mercy, I will do this for Jesus, but not because I think I sound good!

And we're wearing the gazebo baptistry out! Still have two more waiting. I need to pinch myself but mostly I praise God.

Life goeth on

I'm only 6 months into retirement....can't be, it seems like I've been away from hospitals 2 years. And do I miss it? When I accompany Gary to visit someone, I feel a nauseated feeling as I pass the nurses' station, see an infusion pump in the hall, see a latex-allergy cart outside a patient's room, or hear the nurses evade questions that would be Hippa violations. I wish I never had to see the inside of a hospital again. But church members appreciate a visit from the preacher and he doesn't like to go without me. Figure that one out.

Church? I love church and I love Jesus. Control of things within the church means nothing to me. I'll do anything for anybody within my scope. Does everyone feel that way? NOT. It's amazing what power, or lack thereof, can do to a person. And it's unbelievable how vindictive someone can be when they lose that power. It can change a friend to.....an enemy(?) for want of a better word.