I had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend and it was capped with a fantastically full Sunday. As for my musings …

-We had 4 of our 6 kids and 4 or our 9 grandkids with us for the Thanksgiving weekend. For those of you who seemed puzzled over my saying “6 kids”. We have 3 by birth and 3 by marriage, but they are all our kids. It made for a fun filled house. We missed the 2 kids and 5 grandkids who were in Africa.

-My wife leads the music at our church, and she is great at getting people involved. One of my son in laws is a gifted worship leader, so she was able to persuade him to lead our time of music during worship yesterday. It was so fun and powerful. Our congregation was really singing and engaged through the music. It would be fine with me if that was a weekly thing.

-We had very few sound glitches yesterday. Praise the Lord. Hoping that the work on our updated system can begin this week.

-We had a great time of prayer during worship. Many people indicated a need for some special prayer and our people are committed to praying for them every day this week. I love what is happening with more and more people participating in prayer on a regular basis.

-There were people who responded to the call for action at the end of the message and people were praying and supporting each other.

-I began a new sermon series yesterday. It is entitled “Secret Wishes at Christmas”. Each week we are looking at one or more of the characters in the Christmas story. We will look at a pain point in their life and then using the scripture see the healing that God brought to them. Then we will apply the healing principles to our lives. I am really looking forward to this series, it has already worked in me as I have been preparing it.

-We had very good attendance yesterday. Many people had to sit somewhere other than their “normal” seats. We are going to add a few more seats to the sanctuary this week. What a great problem to have.

-We had a couple of new people from the area attend and one of them was urged to attend our church by someone who doesn’t attend our church. How cool is that?

-There was a children’s workers lunch after worship and it was a great time of fellowship, encouragement and information.

-Then I met with a family whose wife and mother just passed away. I am doing the funeral this morning. What a great tribute to their wife and mom they shared with me.

-Then I joined those who were beginning the Christmas decorating of the church. We had a good group who gave up their Sunday afternoon to serve. My role consisted mainly of carrying things. For some reason I am not trusted with actual decorating ideas.

-Then I went to the visitation for the lady whose funeral I am about to go do. I actually went to the visitation a couple of times to check on the family. There were a lot of people who came through to pay their respects. It was encouraging and exhausting for the family. I am humbled and honored to be able to lead her memorial service.

-I loved having so much of my family in church. Though my girls grew up hearing me preach and therefore might not be as excited about it as I was, I loved seeing them with their spouses and kids and knowing that they are serving the Lord where they live. I am so pleased to see all of my kids loving Jesus and serving him.

-People seemed very engaged in the message yesterday. Sometimes at the end of a long holiday weekend it is tough to preach because people are so tired and distracted. But my congregation was into it and participating.

-My heart is full of joy this morning and it is also heavy with many huge burdens that people in my church are carrying.

Here’s hoping you have a week of reminders that you are loved and that you take the opportunity to encourage others.

Dennis