Picture Perfect

Nina painted a wooden frame and gave it to us for Christmas, and it's been leaning on a table in the family room downstairs ever since then. She painted it red, which goes perfectly with the room, and we knew we wanted to use it down there. But we just hadn't printed a picture to put inside it.
Tonight after work I went to the Kodak kiosk at Kroger's with the disk of the Johnsons' engagement pictures, because I remembered there were some in the batch just of Miles and Nina. But I didn't take time to choose the picture we would use before I grabbed the disk and headed for work.
So when I got to the kiosk, I couldn't decide which picture to use. So I printed three of 'em. These two are the ones I did NOT put in the frame! At least not yet. Maybe another day I'll take a picture of the picture in the frame so Nina can see how we're using her handiwork.
Accomplished a lot at work today. Stuck with it and finished reading the proof for our April issue (goes to the printer next week). Did some correspondence to nail down some assignments for some future issues and participated in an hour-long call with planners of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue, which will meet in Indianapolis in October.
Taking a half day of vacation tomorrow and then taking the afternoon off to work on a project that I'll write more about later.

Proof This Blog is Good for Me--but Not for My Proof!

I told myself I would spend at least all afternoon reading proof on our April issue. But then I had a phone call from a fellow who was giving some helpful (sought-after) advice about the business side of our magazine. And then I had an e-mail from a friend who wanted advice about writing her blog. And her note prompted me to look again at this diary/blog and look back over some posts from the last year.
I played the game where I look at this same day of the month for several of the preceding months. Some of the posts I remembered writing; several I didn't. Most of the events and feelings I remembered experiencing, but some I had mostly forgotten.
I said when I began this that it WAS all about me; I would write my diary and keep it online.

've been surprised since then, again and again, to discover someone new who was actually reading this! But the fact of readers has prompted me to try to say something someone besides me would want to read, and I think I accomplish that at least a few times each month. But I certainly don't view myself as any kind of expert on blog writing!

Our April issue is about church conflict.
Some helpful stuff in it!

Anyway, I enjoyed looking at my old diary/blog entries and thinking back over past days--meals, friends, experiences, my reactions to it all. In fact, I enjoyed it too much. I still have a bunch of proofreading to do tomorrow!

I

A Star is Worn

Couldn't resist the pun in this title. I'm not a star, of course, but I AM pretty tired after getting home from our musical revue, "Cinemagic," at church this evening. The group performed for a packed chapel of Evergreen attendees and a few others who came just for the show.
They were a terrific audience, enjoying every song, the accompanying videos showing clips that went along with the singing and dancing on the stage.
I hammed it up as the emcee and blew only one of my six lines!
And, as I said, now I'm really tired. (Shouldn't have stayed up till midnight watching all the Oscars Sunday night!)
One cute feature: they had put stars on the tiles in the lobby outside the chapel and written a different cast member's name on each star. (There was no cement for us to sink our hands into, but the stars added to the motif and made a fun picture posing possibility.)

Cinemagic Sunday

Dave Lautzenheiser put
this program together . . .

. . . and I snapped some
pictures of him putting
the cast through
their paces today.

About 16 friends from Christ's Church at Mason have been working for months on a musical revue they'll perform at this month's Evergreen dinner this Tuesday evening.

Tonight is Oscar night, and in keeping with that season, the revue is called "Cinemagic." I get to tag along three days before the performance and join them as the narrator. This is the same program, with faster tempos and LOTS of choreography added, that I was narrator for when the Ambassadors Choir at Mason Christian Village performed it last year.

I was at church today from 3:00 till after 5:30. First they did a vocal run-through. Then we blocked my little entrances and exits, and then we ran the show with mikes. 

I mostly remembered my words. One speech is too slow, and another is too fast, so I'll work on that before and driving to and from work tomorrow. And tomorrow night we'll go through the show twice before performing it for the seniors Tuesday.

It's fun--but frankly, I can't imagine all the work these folks have put it to get this 30 minutes ready. 

A Simple Saturday

Paid bills. Skyped with Wendy (she's doing well!). Spent some time reviewing memory on my lines for a little musical review some people are doing Tuesday night for Evergreen. I'm the narrator of sorts. This is the same program for which I narrated with the Ambassadors choir last year.
Sorted through all my receipts, W-9's, and other papers I need for my taxes and got that information all tabulated and ready to take to the guy who does my taxes. Helped Evelyn put away the winter decorations in the living room and put out some spring things.
Took a walk with Evelyn to the park. It was chilly, but not cold and the walk in the bright, warm sun was wonderful. Decided to tackle an outdoors project while it was so pretty.
A rose bush behind the house needed to be pruned. Every time we've had a windy night this winter, it has been rubbing against the bedroom window, which has been a problem to Evelyn when I've been out of town.

So I whacked away on it and ended up cutting off more than was left when I was through.
I decided to take a picture of the bush so I can show some more when it starts branching out and blooming this spring and summer.
After our showers, Evelyn and I decided to use a gift card to Cracker Barrel for supper, and I had their Saturday special, chicken and rice. It was really good!
Went to the grocery store after that, and then Evelyn and I watched an old "Elementary" we hadn't seen. A simple Saturday. A good day. I was glad for the projects (the taxes and the rose bush) I got done.

Best Bouquets I Ever Bought!

Ate lunch at the Kroger's over at Harper's Pointe today. They have a bunch of wonderful hot food plus salads for good prices. After lunch I was nosing around, eating samples, and I looked through their flower and plant section. They had two big bins of alstroemeria bouquets marked down to 50 cents per bouquet. So I bought two bouquets and brought 'em home after work. 

Alstroemeria stay fresh for weeks. And although I'm sure these are at the end of their life, they'll definitely brighten our weekend--and all for just a dollar!

Motivation to Keep on Keeping on

Got a list of assignment requests emailed today. One writer, a longtime friend, wrote back to say, yes, she would write. She had just been talking with someone who had tried establishing a ministry like the one she leads, and it wasn't flourishing; they're thinking of giving it up. My friend recounted how long it takes to see change in the population she's reaching and then said it will be hard to describe all they're doing within the word count I gave her. She's been working hard for many years to lead a ministry that is now impacting many, many families.
Maybe it's my imagination, but she sounded a little tired. I thought about how exhausting ministry can be. (Indeed, any job can be tiring. But ministry has the added burden of concern for the physical lives and spiritual wellbeing of all those touched by the ministry.) I jotted the following as a part of my reply to her:

Sometimes ministry is fulfilling and joyous as we see lives changed. Other times it's plodding and pressure-filled as we deal with the messiness of broken lives (including our own!). I'm sensing in your note that you're feeling the burden more than the blessing today. I think I can relate, although there's nothing more exhausting than working with individuals whose needs are unpredictable and sometimes unpleasant. My tiredness comes from paper and procedures and deadlines and corporate structures. But usually I get to leave it in the evening. And seldom am I interrupted in the night by a need related to my ministry.

It's easy to get frustrated with ministers we know: their quirks, their egos,  their inconsistencies, their imperfections. But I'm far more impressed by the faithfulness, the devotion to service, the long hours and the heartfelt concern I've seen expressed by so many ministers I know. Most of them I know set an example that challenges me to be better and do more, and most of all just to hang in there.
Tomorrow I'll pray for my friend that she has the motivation to keep on keeping on. And then I'll pray that same prayer for myself.

Our March issue is in the
mail, I'll read the proof for our
April issue next week, and we're
working hard already on art and editing
of the May issue of Christian Standard.

Car Repairs, Cocooning, Blood Check, and Fine Cuisine

A couple of updates since I was tired and didn't post yesterday.
Dale Barnes cleaned an air sensor and drove Evelyn's car for 10 miles and the "Check Engine" light didn't come back on. Cool.
Later yesterday evening when she was driving the car--pop!--here came that light again. :-)
I called him this morning, and he said, "Drive it next week. Drive it for a month if you want to."
"Oh really? It won't hurt the car to drive it."
"No," he said. "You don't have to worry till the 'Check Engine' light starts flashing."
OK. I'm taking it back to him Friday, and I'm guessin' the bill will be a little higher than the $39 we paid yesterday.
Update two: I wrote that column I was thinking about Tuesday when I last posted. Decided to go with the USA Today post about super cocooners and think a little about how the church might react to this trend in our culture. It will be live tomorrow (Thursday, the 21st). Not my finest work, but I was pleased to get some info from Kurt Ervin at Central Christian Church, Las Vegas, about their Internet campuses to include in my little piece.
Today I went to my rheumatoid arthritis doctor. She took blood. She always takes blood. But she said we could experiment with not taking one of the two medicines I've been taking--the more potent one with the possibly more serious side effects. So I'm glad about that. We'll see if the joint pains come back.

Larry and I usually choose fine cuisine for
these high-level meetings.

Had lunch after my doctor's appointment with Larry Collins to talk about the possibility of Christian Standard sponsoring video interviews of NACC speakers during the convention. Like all good ideas, this one is easy to pull off--if you have the money to pay for it. We'll see how this works out!

In My Opinion . . .

Wrote a draft of my editorial for our April issue today. I'll read it again tomorrow and see if I still think it's worth publishing. Our April issue doesn't go to the printer for more than two weeks, so this is really something that I'm getting it done so soon!
I still have to write the column that will go live on Thursday, though. And I haven't decided what to write about.
One possibility: those meteors (or is it meteorites?) last week make me think about the end of the world, when, the Scripture says, the world will burn. Seems to me it wouldn't take many of those dudes hitting the earth at the same time to make that prophecy come true. But that sounds a little quirky, I know, so I'm not sure it's an idea that deserves the light of day. I want to do a little research on what others are saying about the spate of apocalyptic movies that have come out recently. Is it possible that even the culture-at-large senses what many Christians are feeling; that is, that the barrage of evil and suffering we see all around us cannot keep going on.
Another possibility: USA Today had a major article on super-cocooning, the practice of spending big bucks to assemble electronic diversions and at-home comforts so that a family can entertain itself almost exclusively under its own roof. If this trend catches on with a wide swath of the population, what will this mean to the church? We already know about Internet churches, mobile-app devotional guides, and small groups that meet by Skype. Will a hunkered-down, plugged-in generation see the need to go to buildings for worship and fellowship? Probably. But it IS a trend worth noting.

The mundane reality of today is that Evelyn has a "CHECK ENGINE" light in her car, so I drove it today and left it at the garage after work. The owner's manual says, "Take to your Toyota dealer immediately" when the light comes on, but I have a better solution: Barnes garage and towing. An honest mechanic is hard to find, and I'm so happy to have one, especially now that both of our cars are way past 100,000 miles.

Singing about Surrender

The theme of this morning's sermon was surrender. "God calls us to be a people of surrender," Trevor Devage said as he began his sermon based on the Ephesians passage about wives submitting and husbands sacrificially loving. But the biggest challenge came in the call for all of us to "surrender all" to God and his will for our lives.
We sang a new worship song this morning, "The Stand" by Joel Houston.

So I'll stand, with arms high, and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
I'll stand, my soul, Lord, to You surrendered. All I am is Yours. 

My eye caught a view of a longtime friend sitting close to the front row of the auditorium as I sang with the worship team in the 9:30 service. I'm not sure she was trying to sing the new song, but her eyes looked upward, and in that instant I remembered all the ways she has lived a surrendered life in all the years I've known her. The swelling volume of the song and the repeated vow of surrender combined to make me ponder all that surrender means, the day in, day out pursuit of duty: obedience to God and devotion to family and commitment to service, even if the hours are long or the tasks are a burden.
It seems to me that one reason we need to assemble as a church is to see each other and to be reminded of the Christian examples living among us.
I'm writing this at the end of the day. The emotion that welled up in me in that moment this morning has long since passed. The week waits before me, and I'm praying I'll remember the words and the melody of that new worship chorus, and the example of that old friend--and many others like her I could name. I need to experience surrender and not just sing about it.

I snapped a couple of pictures of the crowd greeting each other at the beginning of our worship service this morning.

President's Weekend Saturday

A good Saturday, although not a typical Saturday. Got up early, took my shower, and ran to Dunkin' Donuts to get some breakfast with the gift card Evelyn got in our Christmas grab bag. We ate breakfast and Skyped with Wendy. Then Evelyn did some housework errands, and I practiced piano (I play in the Classic service tomorrow). We left by 11:00 to drive to Jeffersonville and the Bob Evans where we ate lunch and visited with Marshall and Judy Hayden for at least a couple of hours. In addition to catching up, we did some planning for the cruise trip we'll help lead together this June.

Since we were just across the street from the Tanger Outlets complex, Evelyn and I took a couple more hours to browse the bargains in all the stores during the President's Day Sale weekend event there. It was below freezing and windy, with snow showers while we were there, hurrying from store to store with our coats zipped tight.
Evelyn made some spaghetti for supper while I watched the evening news and ironed a pair of slacks for church tomorrow.
After supper I had a phone call from a friend out of town, and then we watched an old movie, "Von Ryan's Express" on Netflix.

One of the Good Ones

Drip, drip, drip . . . .
That's the sound of the talent pool at Standard Publishing slowly leaking away.
I bumped into a co-worker at the elevator this morning and explained the fruit tray I was carrying in. "It's for Mark Haas's going-away party," I reminded her. "Stop by Editorial at 10:00 and have some food."
"Oh, I hate to see him go," she said. "We're losing another of the good ones."
I think everyone at the carb-laden send-off agreed. And I can't remember a going-away party when the honoree and the master of ceremonies, both grown men, cried real tears when they were making their farewell speeches.
We're really going to miss Mark, but I'm hoping to stay in touch with him after he's left us. My friend is right. He's one of the good ones.

Thunder and Thoughts--Some Sweet and Some Not

So here's the thing: deciding on a list of under-40 leaders who will help shape the face of our movement in the next decade is a lot harder than it sounds.
There are a BUNCH of dynamic leaders under 40 years old in our fellowship. But which of them is influencing beyond their own situation or location? And how do you really evaluate that--in a way that will seem fair to those who see this report (and in a way that will seem fair to those NOT chosen)? I spent quite a bit of today chewing on that. I hope to come to some closure with this by the first of the week.

The day began very well, with a good discussion of the Seven Churches of Revelation with my Thursday-morning men's Bible-study group. My friend Milt Pippenger recommended to me a wonderful book he has used as background when he taught the book of Revelation. Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination is by Eugene Peterson, the paraphraser who produced The Message. I read through his chapter on the Seven Churches yesterday and chose a couple of spots in it to read to the guys during our discussion this morning.
The book is full of application, with just the right amount of Bible background and explanation to show why the application works. I'm looking forward to reading it as we proceed through the whole book.
Today's Valentine's Day. I had an e-mail today from a lady who was writing to me and several men about something else.  "It's not too late to get your wives roses for Valentine's Day," she said as she ended her note.
"I already ordered tulips for my wife for Valentine's Day," I answered, "because I know she loves 'em."
And she did!
Evelyn and I worked at the Healing Center tonight, but we're going to try for a nice dinner out tomorrow evening. We exchanged cards today, though; we each chose one sentimental and one semi-outrageous.  (The pictured card is not the outrageous one!)

Midday Snow

The weatherman said something about snow mixed with rain as he gave his report while I was driving to work this morning. By the middle of the morning, we had what looked like a whiteout, and at lunchtime there was a beautiful frosting of snow on all the trees and bushes.
Evelyn said on Facebook this was the kind of snow she likes: a beautiful display everywhere except on the roads. And by the time I left work, it had melted off my car and windshield.

An Older Leader Looking at Young Leaders

Not much to take a picture of today. Spent most of the day looking at nominees for our Young Leaders Under 40 to be featured in our July issue. We have received maybe 4 dozen nominees plus a bunch from our contributing editors in their annual retreat in January. The only problem is that just today I discovered a folder of nominees I had forgotten Diane was gathering for me. This after I spent time with Paul Williams deciding on the fewer nominees we had without all those in the folder. And after having then sent our shorter list to the contributing editors to evaluate.
So today I made a giant spreadsheet of all the likely nominees--those I just saw today plus the names our contributing editors had, uh, contributed. I'm going to fess up to Paul tomorrow (I spent quite a bit of his time evaluating the incomplete list last week), and we'll decide on a final list.
Today was haircut day, and I stopped on the way home to continue my once-every-five-weeks habit.

The Promise of the Sunrise

The sun rising as I drove to work this morning made the most beautiful sky I've seen since sometime this autumn. I stopped in the church parking lot about 7:45 to snap these pictures, and as pretty as they are, they don't do the sky justice. Those huge cotton-ball clouds, reflecting the sun behind them--they were just beautiful.

Both pictures are of the sunrise, but the setting sun as I drove home before 6:00 was just as beautiful. And best of all, I realized, I can now drive TO work and home FROM work in the daylight. Winter hasn't given up its grip on us yet (I saw something about 27 degrees and snowflakes predicted for Saturday). But each passing day in February, and each warm sunrise and sunset, convinces us that spring is on the way!

Concentrating on Worship, Thinking about Marriage

Hosted at 9:30 service today. When I first did this, I thought my worship experience would somehow be diminished by viewing the singing and the sermon from the "wings" of the platform instead of standing or sitting with my wife in the congregation.
I still miss sitting with Evelyn, especially on a day like today when the sermon was about marriage.
But it seems to me that I am more alert and listening better when I'm participating from backstage than out front. I think this is true for a couple of reasons:

1) I've spent more time preparing for the worship service. I've looked at the line-up of songs, and I've thought deliberately about how my little bits on the platform can help connect the other elements of the service into a more meaningful whole. I've thought particularly about the Communion hymn and prepared Scriptures and thoughts to enrich the Communion experience for the other worshipers. And I've sat with the various worship teams for a tech run-through, which isn't all that inspiring, but it contributes to the whole experience of anticipating the worship service. And that anticipation makes me more attuned to what's happening when the worship service actually happens.
2) Backstage during the singing and sermon, I must work at paying attention. Sitting or standing in the congregation, I can easily assume the mentality of a concert-goer; I can engage with the words of the songs or not. I can be distracted by the people around me. I can read the worship folder or think about the afternoon, all while no one around me knows I'm thinking more about myself than God.
Of course, there are even more opportunities to ignore the worship leaders when I'm backstage. But I work harder at paying attention when I'm backstage sitting on a little bench, peering at the tiny TV monitor in the corner, straining to hear what the minister is saying.
My bottom line: it's my energy, my effort that is making the difference, and it could make the same difference whether I was helping to lead or not. I think there's a lesson in this for everyone, and maybe I'll write about this someday somewhere besides here.

Trevor's sermon was the second in his series called "Revolutionary Relationships," and as I said, the message was all about marriage.
Things to remember for me: Joy is the primary key to unity and longevity in marriage. So we should pursue joy and be our spouse's primary joy giver. After all, being joyful is not just a nice goal, but a biblical command: "Always be full of joy" (Philippians 4:4).
Best laugh in the sermon: Among a list of things kids said when asked about falling in love, was this gem from a little girl grade schooler:

"Beauty is only skin deep, but being rich can last a long time."

Thought I'd like to think about, and maybe write about, some more:
"Create a culture of two." That is, work on building the special world that's just for you and your spouse. In a day when so many families are led by self-centetered or career-centered parents, in a time when so many parents are child-centered rather than God-centered, in a culture when too many spouses concentrate on so many goals before their relationship with each other, this seems like a challenge that needs to be in neon lights beside the Interstate.

This Saturday's Small Group

Today we had our get-together with the Friskneys and the Webers that we had planned for last Saturday. We were going to meet in Shelbyville last Saturday, but the snow kept us home. Today we used the gift certificates Friskneys gave us for Christmas to meet for lunch/dinner in Mason, since Webers were already in town this weekend to celebrate granddaughter Nora's 2nd birthday.
We sat at the restaurant (Applebee's) for probably a couple of hours and then adjourned to our house for birthday cake from Kroger's and decaf and ice cream. It was a belated celebration for Sev and Bill whose birthdays happened at the end of January.

We laughed and caught up on each other's family and talked about everything from our various work situations to why bars are better places for genuine bonding than what so many people experience through their churches. We decided that much of what people say SHOULD happen in a small group happens among longtime Christian friends like us--without programming or a curriculum.
We hope to meet again soon--we've put March 16 on our calendars (although I have a tentative trip that needs to happen sometime in March but isn't scheduled yet. We'll see.).

I snapped this picture of our table setting before we left for the
restaurant. We used some of the vintage plates that we had gathered
for Jennifer's wedding.

Screen Time

I have spent the WHOLE DAY sitting in front of this computer, and I'm TIRED of it. Evelyn's working at the Healing Center tonight, and I decided just to jot off a blog entry before going home, and then I may not open the computer again before bedtime!
We're at the art-choosing stage in our monthly production schedule. Because we don't have a full-time art director, our process goes like this: Jim Nieman, managing editor, and I meet with the company's art director, Mark Haas, who helps us choose art, come up with graphic ideas, etc. He also takes stock art and doctors it in Photoshop, etc., to create customized looks that we couldn't get by depending on the stock services alone.
But I spend quite a bit of time creating light tables full of possible stock images to start with. And that's what I did a little bit yesterday afternoon and what I've done almost all day today. I did have a 50-minute conference call with planners of the next Stone-Campbell Dialogue meeting that will happen in Indianapolis in October. And Mark and Jim and I met for about 75 minutes this morning in the first round of art planning meetings  for our April issue.
Tomorrow morning we'll meet again, and in between some correspondence, I've been looking at art possibilities in preparation for tomorrow's meeting. Hopefully we can get the rest of the art chosen in another hour or so then.
So far, we have some neat concepts going. Here's a tiny, little preview. (This isn't the best concept by ANY means, but I don't want to give away too much!)
The issue is about conflict. One article is titled: "Ways to Know Your Church is Headed for Burnout."
We're going to try to illustrate it with a church attached to a lit fuse, as though it's getting close to blowing up. Mark will combine the fuse from this bomb with this church building picture to make the illustration. We'll see how it works!

More Than a Year

Yep, those page views are down because I haven't posted since Sunday. I just realized I've been doing this blog for a little longer than a year. First post was the last day of January last year. This isn't the first time I've missed my goal of blogging every day, but I haven't missed many. And as I browsed through the pictures and the posts, I came across some events and thoughts that I had forgotten about, or at least forgotten that I'd written.
So I'm glad I've been engaged in this little project, even though some days it feels like a burden or a job to come up with something to write.
Yesterday and Monday I was in Indianapolis. I was helping a friend with a project Monday. He's not sayin' much about it, so I won't say anything about it either--yet. Probably someday.When Paul Williams and I realized he would be in Indy when I would be there, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and get in some planning on future issues of Christian Standard. We got some good work done and enjoyed our time together.

I drove home from Indy and got to work about 9:30. Jim Nieman had the proof for our March Christian college issue all spread out on two countertops for final checks before uploading to the printer today. It's not as edgy or head-turning as some of the previous issues, although I think my editorial, "'Merge' Is Not a Dirty Word" will get some reaction, and several of the back-of-the-book monthly columns are really fine. We'll see if anybody likes it.

I am particularly challenged by Brian Mavis's column in the March issue.

Majestic, for Me

In addition to their worship medley, the choir began
the service with a call to worship based on the text of Psalm 98.

It's funny the things you remember.
I was sitting in the chapel at church this morning, listening to our choir rehearse their anthems they were to sing in the 11:00 Classic service. They sang, "Majesty, worship His majesty. Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise. . . ."
I remembered trying to memorize the words to that worship chorus on a Saturday before Easter; it might have been 20 years ago. I forget if I was leading worship or just singing on the worship team, but we were going to lead the chorus from memory, without music or words in front of us. I was going over the song in the kitchen while I was helping Evelyn get food ready for whomever we were hosting for Easter dinner the next day.
I remember another time we sang the song. I was leading worship, with a worship team from the church, for a special worship service we had planned to kick off our annual Publishing Committee meeting. We met at Mason Church of Christ, in our old building. The whole Standard Publishing crowd was there, along with a smattering of guests, and I had assembled the musicians to lead the singing. The occasion was the transition of Gene Wigginton from publisher to president of Standard Publishing, and my transition to his office overseeing all the editorial department.
Our choir sang the worship chorus this morning as part of a worship medley. I was hosting at that service, and so I stopped by the chapel at 9:00 a.m. to touch base with Dave Lautzenheiser about the service. When I heard the choir's words of "Holy, Holy, Holy" followed by "Majesty," the memories flooded over me.
So much has happened since I was first learning the words to that chorus, and it surprised me that I could sing them from memory quietly at my seat while they rehearsed. Dave got the brainstorm that I should lead the congregation in singing along with the choir's anthem, while he led the choir. And so this morning I was facing the congregation as the voices of the choir soared behind me and as the congregation sang along.
One little white-haired lady--I see her every Sunday, but I don't know her name--raised her hand in praise, quickly, involuntarily as the song's volume peaked. "So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus. Magnify, come glorify the King of all kings." She quickly pulled her hand back to her lap, but her earnest expression and spontaneous gesture of praise touched me deeply, and I could only mouth the words as the chorus finished.
I thought about the great, innumerable choir of saints that one day will "throw down their golden crowns around the glassy sea," and I could picture so many of the folks around me this morning as a part of that grand assembly.

Trevor introduced his beautiful family as a
part of his sermons this morning.

We had another wonderful sermon this morning. It challenged and touched me in ways the minister probably couldn't have imagined or intended. But the greatest inspiration to me was simply being with the saints at Mason this morning and hearing and seeing them offer their praise.

Stockin' Up

Evelyn and I both laughed out loud as I arranged our groceries
on the kitchen table so I could take a picture.

The weatherman says we're having one-to-three inches of snow tomorrow, a warning that has sent the whole city to the grocery store.
"You guys are pretty busy tonight," I said to the checkout gal when WE were at Kroger's after dinner, about 8:00.
"You should have seen it sooner," she said. "We had to open every checkout lane."
We probably have enough food in the house already to be snowed in for a day. But we bought the stuff to make a big pot of minestrone soup, using a new recipe Evelyn found. And if we're snowed in tomorrow, we're going to invite the neighbors to come share supper with us. Our PLAN, though, is to meet Bill and Verna Weber with Paul and Sev Friskney in Shelbyville. It is to be a reunion planned by Sev before Christmas, to help soften the good-bye to the Webers who moved to Indianapolis right after Christmas. We're really looking forward to seeing them, but if the trip seems risky, we'll put it off a week and make soup instead.