Yesterday was a very long and very awesome day. Yesterday was a very meaningful and impactful day. Yesterday was a great reminder of the power of what I get the privilege to do. I get to open God’s Word to wonderful people every week. I get to fellowship with some of the greatest people every week. I get to plan and prepare for the future every week. I get to wrestle with life-changing issues every week. I am exhausted and energized by what I get to do every week and I love it! As for my musings …

-Our worship service in both churches was outstanding yesterday.

-People were very engaged in the service and during the sermon yesterday. That always makes for a great day.

-I heard, and saw evidence of, great things that are taking place in some people’s lives.

-I saw the pain on some people’s faces from the struggles they are dealing with right now and my prayer list intensified.

-My wife and I enjoyed a great time of fellowship over a meal and then some great conversation following the meal yesterday. It was great to get to know some people from both churches a little better. The fact that there were 3 kids in the group and that they played and seemed to have a lot fun at our place warmed my heart. I love when you see people connect and get to know each other better.

-Attendance at my 9:00 church was very good, that is especially encouraging the Sunday after Easter and doubly so when it is the first Sunday or our local schools Spring Break.

-Attendance at my 10:30 church was good and we had a bright new family visiting.

-This past month has left me wrung out. There were so many things going on and major issues that I was working on that I didn’t realize how much it had taken out of me until the middle of last week. I hate when I feel that way.

-Sunday was encouraging and somewhat refreshing. The 8+ hours of sleep last night didn’t hurt either.

-As I get to know the people in my 9:00 church better I am able to shape the illustrations in my sermons to better connect with them. The struggle is that since my 2 churches are at very different stages I need to craft some things a little different for the message at each church. I am preaching the same message (so far, but knowing me that might not always be true) but there are some different illustrations and I may linger on one part of the message longer at one church than the other.

-I will get to hug and spend some time with our son, daughter in law and 5 of our grandkids in about 4 months. I am really excited for that time. In case you didn’t know, they are serving as missionaries in Kenya and have been there for about 3 years. They will be back in the states for a few weeks starting in the late summer.

-I sense that we are at a tipping point in my 10:30 church. In the life of every church there are key moments, tipping points to borrow from Malcom Gladwell, that if you can push through them great things take place. If you don’t push through them then you back up some and settle for a while.

-I recently read 3 very good and very different books. Craig Groschel’s “#Struggles” –Following Jesus in a Selfie World; Gary McIntosh’s “Growing God’s Church” – How People are actually coming to Faith Today, and Jen Hatmaker’s “Interrupted” – When Jesus Wrecks your Comfortable Christianity (the revised & expanded edition), I will attempt to write a review of the 3 in another post. I recommend them, but remember I enjoy reading things that challenge me, that make me think and even things that I don’t always agree with.

-Have you ever felt like you had so many things you were trying to accomplish that you weren’t finishing any of them? I am in one of those periods now and I don’t enjoy it.

-I just looked over at a note I recently received from a 5 or 6 year old who attends our church and it made me smile.

Here’s hoping that you find something that makes you smile today and that you pass that smile along to someone else. Don’t worry you won’t lose your smile, after all you can make another smile.

Dennis