We now return to Friday's program, already in progress!

It is Friday, March 26, 2010 and when I rung the bell on a website it gave me this countdown for those eagerly awaiting Christmas: There are only 274 days, 19 hours, 28 minutes, and 39 seconds until Christmas 2010. I know you are glad I cleared that up and you can now schedule your time accordingly. I have known some folks who actually buy all their Christmas gifts for the following year during the current period after-Christmas sales. I seem to recall hearing my wife make some noise a few times about how this would be a good idea but I don't think we have ever done much with it. We have participated in special Christmas programs through our local Church a few times that were held at odd times during the year. The most memorable was a Christmas in July where we had the full program with an emphasis on gifts given to further mission efforts. We went all out with a huge choir presentation, all the decorations, and a number of special Christmas oriented features. It was great fun and while it's not something that would probably work well every year, it did for us that year and everyone greatly enjoyed singing about the coming of our Savior, in July!

Come to think about it, 'Joy to the World, the Lord is come' is very appropriate to think about and proclaim every day of the year. Just so you know, my wife left me again. She headed out early this morning to Louisiana to join her sister as they both will travel to visit their eldest brother. You will recall that my wife and her sister are referred to as twins born 18 months apart or as they also have been known, two peas in the same pod. A few weeks ago they both had the same idea about visiting their brother at the same time. This is not an unusual situation for them. Before we had cell phones and readily available communications they would be separated for months but when we would meet up they would pick up at the last comma and continue their conversation as if they had only paused to take a breath. Uncanny! Over the years they have taken these spontaneous co-connected ideas to mean they should act upon them. Their reasoning is that since both of them thought about it at the same time it obviously means they should do something about it, so they are! I've learned not to interfere with this sister chemistry because that my friend would not be a road I would want to go down.

Wednesday evening after our Bible study one of our youth workers came into our class and asked for a volunteer to help out in a play on Friday night being done for our teens. He said it would be a non-speaking part and they only needed a warm body. Everyone was looking around and some were telling why they couldn't and then I spotted my wife giving me that eye. I haven't seen her making eyes like that since we were teenagers. She obviously was nominating me to volunteer and her motion was being made with an intense stare. I am typically somewhat slow to jump into things but I held up my hand like a good little boy and became the volunteer for the non-speaking warm body role needed. She later told me she was a little embarrassed because no one was volunteering and she thought since I would be available I could do it. There goes the wild party I had planned while she is away which may have also included two teaspoons of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. What a party pooper! You have to know I am joking because it is always a privilege to serve any effort to reach our teens with the message of the Gospel. Therefore, Friday evening, while she and her sister and their brother are enjoying their wonderful seafood feast at their favorite restaurant, I will be in my place working hard to fulfill my non-speaking and warm body role! Have a great Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday and I'll see what I can come up with for Monday. May God bless! Amen. ......More later.