All loaded and ready: Aim, Fire, Ready...or something like that!

It's a little on the cool side here. The old jalopy didn't want to wake up this morning. There was some ice on the windshield and that seemed to annoy him a little. But, we thank God for the rain on Saturday, nearly two inches in our area, and we thank Him for the cool crisp weather that is supposed to be with us for the next few days. I do bid you a hearty hello and welcome back to where the rubber meets the road even though the treads are mighty thin, my friend, mighty thin. I always hate it when I take a break and end up having to retrain myself. But, I do welcome you to our time together here on this back to work Monday, November 28, 2011. If we had a show and tell this morning I would be loaded for bear. Loaded for bear? That would be correct, ladies and gentlemen, if they still say those words. That phrase has come to mean a number of different things, like being primed and ready for confrontation, or being over ready like bringing a bazooka to a fly killing contest. (I came up with that one myself and have no idea where it came from.) But, being loaded for bear goes back to those days when muskets were actually used to bring home the bacon, (I don't have time to chase that one down for you.), and it refers to when muskets were loaded by pouring gunpowder down the barrel, followed by the shot. The power of a given charge could be adjusted by adding more or less gunpowder. When hunting large animals like bear, a large and powerful gunpowder charge would be loaded into the musket. Hence loaded for bear is to be hunting with a powerful charge ready.  Uh-huh, you learned something, didn't you? But my use of that phrase has to do with all that I had on my plate over the last several days. (Literally, when thinking about the Thanksgiving Day activities, and figuratively, when thinking about the busyness of my schedule.) What's that you say? You can tell I've not been doing this for a while? Good, in a couple of days I will get these training wheels off and my keyboard will not know what hit it.

Our honorees, Mom and Dad!

Back to my sharing. Our Thanksgiving celebration was wonderful. Family, fellowship, and feasting. Such joy and we do thank our eldest Chris and his wife Sherrie for hosting our entire gang once again. Yes, it has been said many times before but sometimes it just hits the nail on the head, a good time was had by all, and we did thank God before, during, and after for His wonderful blessings. We had some very special family members who came and joined us for our big day. Mom and Dad drove over Thursday morning and became a part of our family celebration. Just a few of us knew they were coming, and it was a huge surprise to many, but what a blessing. What a blessing. What a blessing!  None of us will soon forget this very special memory and we do thank God for them and for the wonderful day He gave us all. That took care of our Thursday. My wife had to do her duty at the store on Black Friday, therefore, I was out and about doing this that and the other, you know, those things necessary to keep the home fires burning. On Saturday I spent 5 hours posing for the professional photographer in her studio along with some wonderful families with their even more wonderful children. Tiring? Yes! Was I exhausted? You had better believe it! But, in the end, when it was all said and done, it was something I suppose very few folks get to experience. Then, on Sunday, we picked back up with our lessons where we read and studied Matthew Chapter 10. What a whirlwind of activities and what a blessing to have had the privilege of doing them all. Thanks be to God who provides such abundance. Amen.

Now it is back to that wonderful thing we call routine. However, routine may be in the eye of the beholder since this week ushers in December and December promises to be pretty challenging for the wife and I. We have six appearances on the books where we will show up as that lovable North Pole couple. So many children and so little time. One good thing. It should keep me out of trouble. I'm sorry? So, you think there might be a little doubt as to whether that statement could be true. Okay. Let me update that one. It has the potential to keep me from as much trouble as I would otherwise end up being in. Do you like that better? I thought so. Some of the appearances involve Church related outreaches and we are very excited about bringing a Merry Christmas greeting to several groups of folks who just might need a little encouragement. We will not forget to frame our plans with a sincere LORD WILLING. I'm carrying a little congestion the past couple of days and our little Alexander Benjamin may have been the source. I also work with folks every day who have the sniffles. And we are surrounded by many who are dealing with family, health, and job issues. Every day I look through a number of listings of obituaries from this area as well as in and around the region in Louisiana where we were raised. Guess what? Names were added every day over the holiday period, therefore, we know that our lives, our hopes, dreams, our aspirations, and every detail of our plans are in the Lord's hands, therefore, we seek Him as we move forward, each and every day. Have a great Monday and may God add His blessings to it! Amen.        .....More later.