Category: Journal
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Why have a 4th of July church service?
Celebrating the Fourth of July in the traditional way with patriotic hymns and maybe even the Pledge of Allegiance might raise questions these days. Is it too secular? Maybe even partisan? Or just distracting? I have always felt very positive about a traditional Fourth of July service. I even find them inspiring. First, a Fourth…
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Learning Quiet
Finding new ways to be quiet One of the subtle gifts of the COVID-19 time is to reveal just how restless I have become and urge me toward more quiet time with God. I have been learning to sit and be silent. One way to create opportunity for this is to hike to a quiet…
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My Christmas Village and Trains
West Granby Christmas Village and Trains Each year for about 20 years, I have set up a Christmas train village and invited children of the church to visit and run trains. This year, due to COVID-19, the only visitors were my two grandchildren. I decided that I would still put the whole village up because…
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Living Together is Unwise
A Wise Article When my daughter was of age, I advised her bluntly; “Men want sex, companionship and help at home and in that order. If you give them all three and don’t get a wedding ring in return you are being foolish.” While I believe choosing marriage over living together is also the right…
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Celebrating Our 50th Wedding Anniversary
It all began the summer after my freshman year in college. I went with my brother Al to a Youth rally at the Kanona Youth for Christ center, Kanona, NY. Afterwards we stopped at the corner Root Beer stand for a snack. Al was talking to Joe DeSerio, Jr. about riding to Alfred College together…
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Wisdom is needed
A key verse Wisdom is a key theme for my blog. I found this verse during one of my recent devotional times. It is a reminder of how important wisdom is to all our projects, both short-term and long term, both physical and interactive. Success in building for the future requires wisdom today.
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Thinking Ahead
This is a powerful article for today. The questions near the end could be used to help the thinking of every church leader and church council/board/session. We are coming to a major transition period when the current restrictions end. It is an unprecedented opportunity for positive adaptation to the true needs of our culture. outreachmagazine.com/interviews/54136-the-future-is-now.html
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The Guide to Making Good Daily Habits and Breaking Bad Ones – Finds.Life.Church
Break that bad habit and make good daily habits with identity goals, keystone habits, and these free resources. Tomorrow doesn’t have to be the same. — Read on finds.life.church/the-ultimate-guide-to-good-daily-habits/ This is an excellent article with good depth and practical wisdom as well. I highly recommend it.
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50th Christmas Tree
This year was JoAnne’s and my 50th Christmas. The grand tree pictured above as the centerpiece of our Christmas decor this year (2019) is our 50th Christmas tree. This year’s version (an artificial tree) is complete with train village and beautiful snowflakes made by our grandson. (For you who subtracted 1970 from 2019 and only…
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Christmas Project
My daughter’s dollhouse rebuilt I was quite busy in the weeks before Christmas. Four days in the hospital for tests for heart arrhythmia didn’t help. But enough about that. This post is about the very grandfatherly project that consumed my last week before Christmas. Of course, my birthday is that week too. Many years ago-likely…