The title seems to have been the theme for last week around here. If you had anything to do last week it was most likely done in the rain. I came out this morning to see several inches of standing water in the lower lying places around the church grounds. Amazingly just a short time ago we were begging for rain and now over the last few days I have heard several say they hope it goes away. We are just never satisfied with our circumstances are we? It reminds me of the man who went to talk to his pastor. The man said to his pastor, "Preacher, I am just really discouraged with my life right now, I wonder if you would pray for me?" The pastor replied, "Well I'll certainly pray for you, tell me first though what seems to be the problems you are facing?" The man said, "Well preacher three weeks ago I was walking down the sidewalk and looked down and found a discarded lottery ticket. I decided to go and turn it in to see if it was worth anything, and was rewarded with $1,000." "That's amazing!", the pastor replied. "Yeah." said the man, "Then two weeks ago I got a call from an attorney who told me a distant uncle of mine who I had never met passed away, and as his only surviving relative he left me $10,000." " What a wonderfully unexpected blessing!", said the pastor. The pastor continued, "Well, it seems to me that the Lord has really blessed you in the last few weeks, why are you so discouraged right now?" The man replied, "Well preacher, this last week I didn't get anything!"

Sometimes we just need to know how to be satisified with what we have!

If you are like me you are counting down the days until Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is a day in which we eat the biggest, fanciest, highest calorie intake meal we are going to see all year! Thanksgiving is a day in which we are rewarded with a couple of extra NFL games to watch on TV. Thanksgiving is a day in which a battle begins post-meal and pre-football game to see if I can fight off the effects of the tryptophan while sitting in my chair so that I can actually stay awake through the football games. Turkey has to be the greatest food in the world just because we can eat ourselves to sleep with it!

If you cannot tell by now, I love Thanksgiving! What I truly love most is that Thanksgiving is one of the rare times in which my families schedule slows down enough to allow us all to come together and spend time with one another. This year do not forget to put your "thanks" in Thanksgiving! Enjoy your family and friends. Give thanks for the blessings God has given to you this year. "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." Psalm 136:1 

As the temperatures begin to drop I am reminded that my favorite time of year is just around the corner. I love the holiday season! What a wonderful time of year when we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with those we love. When I was a child this time of year seemed as though it took forever to get here. Now as an adult it just seems to fly by so quickly. I find myself putting up the Christmas tree earlier and earlier every year just to try to make the time last a little longer. As we head towards the holidays however, it can be easy to get bogged down in all of the various activites going on around us. I pray that as we go through the months of October, November, and December we try to truly appreciate this special time of year. We can get so busy that the time is gone before we know it and we're left thinking, "that went by too fast." This Fall take the time to enjoy the beautiful weather, take the time to enjoy your family, take the time to enjoy the holidays, and above all take the time to enjoy the One who has blessed us with all of these things.

Paul's words to the church in Philippi are filled with love and compassion for the people he had ministered to while founding a church there. As he writes this letter to those he dearly loves he desires for them to know of his appreciation for them, love for them, and prayers for them. I know next month is Pastor Appreciation month in which churches do something to recognize their pastor. While that is always a blessing, I wanted to try and beat my church to the punch as the old saying goes. I want to express my appreciation for the fine folks of Georgetown Baptist Church. I want you to know how much I love you and appreciate the tremendous blessing you have been to me and my family. I thank you for your dedication, support, and willingness to labor for the Kingdom of God! I am thankful for those of you who serve this church with humility and love. I join with the Apostle Paul in wanting you at GBC to know that I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, and that you are always in my prayers. I join with the Apostle Paul in believing that, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ..."

This Sunday we will have a special 9/11 tribute as part of our morning worship service. I have spent a lot of time thinking about that horrific day this past week leading up to this Sunday's sermon. All of us have memories from that day that will forever be etched in our minds. It seems hard to believe that it has been ten years since that fateful moment in time. Our country has changed dramatically since that day, some things for the good, but all too many things for the bad. My prayer then was that God would do a great work for His glory out of the midst of such tragedy! I believe He still can, and still wants to. The Lord God still has a hearts desire for us to again be "one nation under God." My prayer today, ten years after 9/11 is that we as a nation might have a change of heart, to turn back towards Him. We have in God's word a wonderful promise that says, "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin, and heal their land."