#reality

All Hallow’s Christmas Decorating

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Halloween is not really my holiday. But it’s a big deal around here so we often try to find alternatives to celebrate the day. Over the years, we’ve done all kinds of things. We’ve done harvest parties, day, trips, to Boston, trunk or treats. One year we even got kids gospel tracks and handed them out along with the candy, anything to sort of Christianize the day.

This year we bought lots of candy, put it in big bowls on the porch for the kids out trick-or-treating, and we decorated our Christmas tree. Amanda made our traditional Christmas tree, decorating food, beef, pinwheels, and veggie pizza. Joe and Kristine bought eggnog and three different kinds of juice and soda, I made an American chop Suey and we feasted. And we put decorations on the Christmas tree while greeting our neighbors as they came around.

It was a great night, and the beginning of a wonderful family tradition

Six Baptisms, Four Members and a Chili Cook Off

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Yesterday, was a huge day of celebration at Cornerstone Church Winchendon. WE baptized six new believers, welcomed four people into fellowship as members and we held a DLT chili cook off to help raise money towards our new parking lot. It was a great fellowship sponsored by one of our DLT groups, The Blessing Bunchg of Mixed Nuts. Here are some photos from the day.

The crowd.
The Book Club chili took third place, Andrew and Gabe.
The Steadfast Sons chili made by Mike Murphy.
Bag End Beam took first place for best decorated door. Melanie and Trinity in their Ho bit garb.
Corn bread was a big part of the day. Here are Crystal, Deb, and Sandy with their chilis
Good conversations around the table.

In the end the ladies group, Beter Together took home first prize.

Decoration Day

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One of the DLT groups in our church is hosting a chili cook off tomorrow. The proceeds go towards our new parking lot at the church. Today was decoration day.

Each group submitting a chili got a church door to decorate. Here is the door of the sponsoring group, The Blessing Bunch of Mixed Nuts.

The Book Club door.

Lumen and David from The Saints of Fire and Valo
Kim and Andy set up the Steadfast Sons
Sam and Mandy setting up Bag End Beam
Betty and Margaret from Better Together

Last Days, First Days

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Season changes always create a conflict in me: The last days of one thing, the first days of another.

We are heading into the last days of autumn here in Massachusetts. First frost and maybe snow fly are scheduled for next week.

I had an opportunity to drive down to Wilbraham, for a pastors meeting, this week. The leaves were beautiful. So I took several opportunities to stop on the way home to take some pictures, some memories of the fading season.

Overlooking Quabbin Reservoir, near Amherst, Massachusetts
The Tully. River and Tully Mountain. Tully, Massachusetts.
Tully Pond
Doane‘s Falls, Royalston, Massachusetts
My own backyard

TO WRITE AGAIN

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One of the things I regularly do is go through my life and evaluate how my life is going. Is it the life God desires for me? Is it the life I want to live? Am I living to my potential? What am I doing that I shouldn’t be doing? What am I not doing that I should be doing?

One of the things I discovered in my latest evaluation, is that I want to get back to writing again. And I want to get back to artistic expression.

Photo by OVAN on Pexels.com

We started Royal Rangers (our churches boy’s group) again last week. The first merit we are working on is the art merit. Maybe that is what is driving me back to the desire to create. I want to get back to story. I want to get back to drawing. I want to back to making something that draws on imagination.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Then again, maybe it is something in my current work of pastoring that is driving me to this. I was in a conversation last Friday with someone as I attended a local worship conference. As we spoke I realized just how complex the work of pastoring has been lately. I have many questions about what comes next in the work.

I spent the weekend in deep prayer. As I was praying in the midnight hour on Saturday evening some words and a picture came to mind.

I am not sure what these things mean exactly, but I know they are my brain trying to process some very intricate data. So maybe that is what is driving me back to writing again. I just know that whatever it is, my desire to write again is overwhelming. I need to do it.

What drives you to your writing or your art?

TO THE WEDNESDAY SABBATH

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Photo by Anastasiya Lobanovskaya on Pexels.com

Ministry has shifted again. I think this shift is at least for the winter. About a month and a half ago I moved my day off from Monday to Wednesday. Mondays became a morning Doing Life Together Group (our church’s small group Bible studies) and a worship devotional session at TWR House Of Prayer.

The schedule is now:Sunday church, Monday teaching and service work, Tuesday staff meeting pastoral meetings and Royal Rangers and somewhere in this I have to make sure my sermon is put together and sent off to the admin staff for power pointing.

The last several weeks I have been working on Wednesdays as I transitioned out of other ministry responsibilities. Last night was my first Ranger meeting and today is my first Wednesday Sabbath for real.

I got up this morning after the last three days of ministry and realized just how much I needed a sabbath.

I have known for many years how important sabbath is for the work of ministry. That said, it has been something I have pushed off many times for the necessity of the work. This new schedule is not going to permit that. I toyed with the idea for a while of keeping a couple of work items in the mix for Wednesdays. The way I feel today shows me just how much I will need this.

WHEN IS YOUR SABBATH?

BACK TO “NORMAL”

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Well, Brenda has returned to her home and ministry in The Netherlands after her six week breakaway.

She sent us a few pictures of her flight back.

And then some shots of her home in Zaandam just to prove she made it.

Oliver, her dog is very happy to have her back.

While she was with us, we had Sevy’s second birthday and Mom’s 87th birthday.

We took a trip to Tennessee to visit friends and to rest in the mountains.

She sang on worship team and visited with friends from the church and the area.

Now it is back to life as “normal” for both us and her. Brenda starts rehearsals for her Christmas shows this week. We have a worship conference and a Fall Festival in town this weekend.
I guess I am not really sure what “normal” is. Brenda says her house is quiet compared to ours. maybe that its back to normal, but I know our house is quieter too without her voice in the room and her present in the table.

Maybe normal is us here and her there. Maybe it is us doing our jobs. But maybe normal is just what we are used to and abnormal is the things we have yet to get used to. Anyway whatever normal is I know we miss Brenda and she misses us.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NORMAL IS?