Thanksgiving is such a joyous time as family comes together and everyone enjoys one another. Often, after too much food and lots of family fun, Black Friday suddenly occurs as one holiday season ends and a new one kicks into high gear. With no rest or breaks, the retail stores and internet sites have used this day as a launching point for Christmas and for all kinds of sale events!

May you have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

It is early in the morning, and I am sitting at my desk reviewing the activities of Sunday. I am so thankful for the ministry the Lord has allowed us to have the past 40 years! It seems like such a long time ago in Louisiana, while in the Air Force, that I sensed the Lord calling me to be a pastor. The Lord is faithful and worthy of all our praise!

Thanksgiving is a time for most to celebrate and be thankful for family, health and friends! It is an opportunity to see friends and loved ones that have been apart. The holidays are filled with anticipation of reunion and festivity as perhaps a son in the military or a daughter that is off at school comes home. For others, it is a time of difficulty and sorrow as loved ones are away and not able to be at home. Perhaps, a chair sits empty at the table this holiday season.

Sometimes that which is old and precious in our sight is suddenly removed and we grieve over the loss and destruction that occurs. This happened in April of 2019 when the Notre Dame Church in Paris suddenly became susceptible to destructive fires and the 850-year-old church suffered immense damage.

Foundation work is difficult and often overlooked by the common observer and even the homeowner. After it is completed, it is buried and never seen again by most people. Yet it is the most important element in the construction of an edifice. My father-in-law used to say, “What is covered in a building is more important than what is seen.”

The day dawns brightly even though there are clouds between us and the sunshine. This is a truth we often miss as we look at the underside of the clouds in the sky. In much the same way we struggle to understand the challenges that come into our lives as we only have access to one side of the equation.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised! That is a phrase that I love to think about and to sing as my heart rejoices before the Lord. It appears that at times we get so wrapped up in the news and reports of the sad events transpiring around us, we forget the greatness of our great God Whom we serve.

It is getting dark much earlier these days! Darkness has settled upon us earlier as the time shifted, and we are now on Standard time as we go through the winter months. There has been a movement to make Daylight Saving time permanent but that would take an act of the Federal government.

It has been written that true friends are rare to find and difficult to keep in our lives. We may have many acquaintances but few true friends. Friends are the ones that will encourage us as well as speak the hard truths when times are difficult, or a crisis is imminent.