Joy in the Journey

  A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 Perhaps it is because Thanksgiving is a few days away. It could be because I just spent some time with my friend of longest standing. (We do not use that nasty word, o_ _!) Or it could be because of some communications I have had with another long term friend. Whatever the reason, I have been a bit nostalgic lately. I've spent quite a lot of time thinking and praying for various people who have crossed my path of life. Those thoughts and prayers have brought me to a place of realization, I am who I am in part because of those relationships. Surely I have changed and grown over the years but some things remain, some ideas, opinions, desires are still a part of me because when I was much younger certain people influenced my life. This is a tribute to them. As I said, the catalyst to this whole train of thought, most likely, was being with my dear friend Mary and talking about so many...

  But a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins worth only a fraction of a penny. Mark 12:42 Yesterday was Youth Sunday at our church. It was a mix of preciousness and chaos. The preciousness coming from the fact that to most of us, though they see themselves as pretty adult, these people are still children. The chaos results from the fact that they are not children so much as they are the “youth”, teenagers, people who don't need a lot of advice or guidance, as far as they are concerned. They're in church every Sunday. They help out. They watch how things work and therefore know how things work. They've got this, right? Um, not so much. What we saw was a comedy of delightful errors, delightful from the seats, terrifying from the perspective of the kids, I'm sure. One young man was designated to give the sermon. Much like Monday morning quarterbacks, many people know what they would say and/or how they would say it. It looks pretty easy. Get u...