Yesterday we experienced another great time of worship, unfortunately there weren’t very many people who were apart of the experience. On to my musings …

-Many people came forward at the close of the message yesterday, committing to work on restoring a relationship. We all have at least one relationship that needs restoration. We looked at the Word for steps to take to work on restoring a relationship.

-There was a good spirit in the service from the beginning to the end.

-Our attendance was very low on this Memorial Day weekend.

-Our oldest grandson is with us for a while. I love having him here, but I hate the reason he is here. He is going to do a semester abroad in South Africa this fall. It seemed that it shouldn’t have been a problem to get his student visa for this since his parents are missionaries in Africa. They have been for 5 years. However, he was told that he had to come back to the states to get this taken care of at the South African consulate in Chicago. He flew in this week and is gathering all the paperwork he needs before he can go to the consulate get this taken care of. Prayers are appreciated for this to go smoothly and quickly.

-I was very encouraged to see a couple of our teens come forward to commit to restoring relationships yesterday.

-It became official this week that I will be an assistant varsity volleyball coach at our local high school this fall. I am excited about this opportunity. It means some readjusting of our summer schedule, but I love coaching and working with young people.

-I was encouraged by two days that I spent in meetings this week. One of those days was being a part of our District’s Board of Ministry where we interview those who are moving toward being ordained. We also spend time working on the process we have in place for ministers. It is very important, humbling and exciting to be a part of this group. The other day was the Mission Strategy Team for our District. I get really jazzed about this one. We work on the mission and vision of our District. We get to hear reports, updates and the vision of our new church plants. We work on how best to share the vision and get everyone on the mission. I love spending time with a group that is so focused on the big picture and cares about each church and pastor. I love my District.

-Our church is now in “let’s get ready for VBS” mode. The first gathering of recruiting the volunteers took place this past week. Materials for the props are being gathered. You need to understand that we transform the whole building when we do Vacation Bible School, so a lot of materials are needed.

-As I watch, and listen, to my grandson going through this visa stuff I am impressed with his maturity and spirit. It is humbling to see how well he is handling it all. I remember shooting nerf hoops with him for hours when he was a toddler. I remember the little boy giggle he had that brought a smile to everyone. Now we sit and talk about world issues over a cup of coffee. I am proud of the Christ following, people loving, world changing young man he has become. There go those allergies making my eyes water again, this has happened a few times since I picked him up at the airport.

-My wife continues to do well in her recovery. The progress each week is a little slower now. That is because she made such great progress in the first four or five weeks that the improvement now is not as obvious. She is still a rock star with how well she has done with a double knee replacement.

-I spent some time a couple of days ago leafing through one of my Dad’s old Bibles. There was even a few of his message outlines in there. It was interesting to see what he had underlined and a few notes he had made. I am blessed to have had such a great example.

-This coming Sunday we will be remembering several members from our church who passed away within the past year. We have a certificate of remembrance and honor for the families of these people. It is a time to remember and celebrate those who have been faithful to the Lord and our church. It is always an emotional day.

Here’s hoping that you recognize how much you are loved by God and will share that with someone in need this week.

Dennis