Pastor's Message
It has again arrived! Fall is my favorite time of the year. The mornings are cool, the afternoons are warm. Occasionally when you step outside you catch a whiff \of alligator juniper burning in the fireplace. When it gets colder the smoke can choke you, but in the fall there is just a wiff. If you want to, in the late evening when the warmth of the day has passed you can make a cup of hot chocolate and put in a couple of marshmallows. I like to put the big ones in my chocolate.
Fall is also the time when families are drawn together. You spend more time indoors, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. We will be home for Thanksgiving this year. Last year we were on our way to Rome. I would not go back and trade that trip to be home, but I did miss gathering with my family for Thanksgiving. Yes, Laura and I, and Wesley and Rebecca had a Thanksgiving meal on the Monday before we left for Rome. It was good, but it was not the same since it wasn’t the day when everyone else gathered. Did you know that the Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October? Don’t they know that it is supposed to be on the forth Thursday of November?
I not only missed celebrating Thanksgiving with Laura, Rebecca, and Wesley on this God-given day, I also missed celebrating with my church family. That is because it has become our tradition to head down to the church on Thursday to be with our extended family.
Fall draws the church family together, not only for Thanksgiving, but also to prepare for the coming celebration of Christ's birth. There will be those who will not have anyone to gather with, or to give the season a flavor of celebration. Fortunately, we still have room in our church family. If only someone will invite them. If only you will reach out to them.
Yours in Christ,
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