Thankful to go home......

I mentioned at the end of my last post (and forgive me for my absence, but doing five days' worth of work in three is, ah, a daunting task.) that it was time and we were going home.

To our home church. Where I pastored for nine years.

We hadn't been back since my closing service last Christmas. I had specific reasons for waiting this long.

1) I began a sabbatical. It was time to be away from pastoral responsibilities and be the parishoner for a season.

2) Quicker is cleaner. Coming right back to visit within a few weeks just isn't a good idea.

3) My most important reason by far: I never wanted to cause any problem or delay in the impending search for the next pastor. So, as they as a church family began to move to their next era, they needed to be focused forward.

We had two times in May where we visited with some of the wonderful people. One was a couples' event, the other....yep. That "24" finale party.

But for about a month now I'd been seriously thinking about heading down one Sunday morning. I'm not sure when I made the decision, but I told the kids about it during Mom's cruise. Boy were they excited!!

So, off we went down I-295, stopping for breakfast on the run at Burger King, and getting south to Prince George. The biggest change was going 'round the final curve on the road where you get to the church.

The woods to the right always obstructed the view of the church so that it "came up on you" on the road (easy to pass it before you realize it).

Rounding the curve last Sunday, my three passengers let out a collective "WHOA!" when they saw that all the trees had been cleared on that right-hand side. Now, you can SEE the church rounding the curve!!

"What's so big about that?", you ask.

Any time you are marketing anything, from a can of peas to a church, sight can be very important. It's NOT the most important, though (remember, I work in radio!).

But, in this case, the church, really off to itself at the fork of two back roads(one well traveled, the other not), needed this.

It was great to see everyone, not many that were there during our time were not there that day. There was Thanksgiving dinner after service, which is why I chose this particular Sunday, giving us a chance to fellowship with 'em after church.

It won't be another 11 months before we return again. They have a wonderful interim pastor (former missionary who is a neighbor of a church couple. She filled in when I was on vacation several times.) Her grace and ministry style is perfect for the church in this season.

I don't know how the search for the next pastor is going. As long as it's following God's will, I need no details. Go get 'em, Bethlehem!!!

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Hope you've had a great Thanksgiving. The family was surprised to have me AWAKE for once. I even rode to Wal-Mart this morning!!

Dinner at Bonnie's "oldest younger sister's" house, and football! Tonight, I gave the TV to my wife to enjoy her shows instead of watching NFL Network's inaugural football game broadcast.

Reasons?

1) I'm a nice guy. :)

2) I heard Bryant Gumbel call a few plays....it wasn't good. Let the rumor mill commence as to who the voice of NFL Network coverage will be in 2007.


For those of you prepping to go out and spend five hours in line tonight in whatever kind of weather so you can get the buy of the year at 5am....I'm happy to say you will not be joined by me.

:)