thoughts from the weekend

It was a busy, busy weekend.....

Friday evening, Debbie and I visited Tom Janel Sr. at Christ Hospital. He seemed to be doing better.

Yesterday, we received a call that he had taken a turn for the worst, and went back after the Sunday morning services to pray with the family. It turned out that he had to have emergency surgery yesterday morning.

It was life and death kind of stuff. Then, last night at around 6:00 P.M. we received a call that Tom had passed away.

Hard to believe. Sudden. Quick.

I know that you will be praying for the family. The memorial service will be here at Stone Church at 11:00 A.M. on Friday, with a lunch to follow.

We live, we die, but as Christians we know that this life is but a beginning of eternal life with God.

Sandwiched in between all of that was a great Sunday morning, with a tremendous sense of God's presence.

I had a wonderful time of ministry in Havana, Cuba last week. It was inspiration to me personally to be around Christians who are hungry for God.

I was overwhelmed as I saw Christians sitting with their Bibles open, taking notes, famished for more of God's Word.

During the Sunday morning service, and after the preliminaries, the people attending all of a sudden - stood up and lifted up their plastic chair and looked underneath. One woman found a Bible marker, lifted it up, and then went forward to receive a new Bible.

She was weeping as she did so. I was touched.

Here in America, we have all the Bibles we need (and then some), we take the Word for granted - not so in Cuba.

Bob Russell writes, "It is a rare person who, when his cup frequently runs over, can thank God instead of complaining about the limited size of his mug!"

This Thanksgiving season, let's focus in on what we do have and not on what we don't have.

We a Christian family who loves us. We have food on the table. We have our own personal family. We have God. We have life.

Carol Kent writes,"When despair tries to take me under…I choose life.

When I wonder what God could possibly be thinking…I choose trust.

When I desperately want relief from unrelenting reality…I choose perseverance.

When I feel oppressed by my disappointment and sorrow…I choose gratitude.

When I want to keep my feelings to myself…I choose vulnerability.

When nothing goes according to my plan…I choose relinquishment.

When I want to point the finger…I choose forgiveness.

When I want to give up…I choose purposeful action."

What attitude are you choosing today?