Yesterday was a wonderful and difficult day and today appears to have the potential to be the same kind of day. I am driving to that other state once again to spend some time with my Dad. As for my musings …

-My 10:30 church had a full band again yesterday. This time we added another instrument and though our original drummer was unavailable we found out that we had another drummer in our congregation. It went very well.

-A first grader joined our worship team on one song and led us in worship. It was awesome. Not only did she do very well but the congregation responded in a wonderful way. I love seeing kids worship and get excited to participate in worship. Hopefully many adults will be inspired to do the same.

-We also celebrated generous giving at both churches. My 9:00 church was celebrating giving about 50% of our normal offering to help build buildings and purchase property for churches who could not otherwise make these purchases. My 10:30 church gave 50% more than our normal offering to our “Give It All Away” offering! We are giving half of it to some local ministries outside of our church and the other half will be going to 2 international ministries. These were great moments to celebrate the generosity of the churches.

-In the afternoon, I met with another church’s health team. I will be coaching them through a process of evaluation and improvement of some church health characteristics. This was the first time to meet with them. I love helping any church become healthier.

-Last night I was once again called into the hospital by the staff to meet with a family. Last week it was to talk and pray with a family who was watching a loved one in their final hours. Last night I was called in to talk and pray with a family who unexpectedly lost a loved one. I felt so bad for the family and for the hospital staff. I wish there was more that I could do for them. I am continuing to pray for both families. I am glad that I was available to serve these families.

-On Valentine’s Day, my wife and I got to spend the whole day together. We didn’t do any special thing, but what made the day special was being with her. It had been too long since we had an entire day like that to be together with no agenda and nothing scheduled.

– My wife and I experienced some wonderful expressions of support and generosity in past few days. I am very grateful and humbled by this experience.

-I am loving the unusually warm and mild weather we have been experiencing. My fear is that there may be another winter blast coming in March or even April. But for now, I will enjoy this weather.

-I am struggling to settle on my Easter series and Easter is less than 2 months away.

Here’s hoping you recognize Christ’s love this week and that you seek to share it with others.

Dennis