Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

Joseph is on the rotating schedule to work the sound booth at church. I fill in sometimes and usually sit with him when it’s his turn. It never hurts to have two sets of eyes and ears on things. Especially when things get complicated.   The sound booth volunteers, and the worship team arrive early each Sunday and practice on Wednesdays to prepare for service. This is the time when you hope all of the kinks are worked out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way.  One Sunday shortly before service, I walked in the door and heard a high-pitched sound coming from one of the monitors. The odd thing was that it didn't happen during practice, but it decided to speak up and be heard just as everyone was entering the sanctuary. The issue was quickly tended to and the service soon started. A few minutes later, someone watching the live stream messaged that there was no sound online. The batteries had died in the live stream microphone. A fresh set was put in and we were u...

  Many in our area lost power last night when storms with high winds rolled through.  It seemed to come out of nowhere. Rusty said it was one of the worst storms he'd seen and it reminded him of years dealing with Mississippi hurricanes. As of this morning, we were still without power as were many others.  As I sat in the truck charging my phone last night, I was thinking of how we sometimes take our electricity for granted. It's so easy to flip a switch and watch everything come to life without giving it much thought. I was reminded of one day when I thought I was charging my phone only to later discover that I had plugged the cord into the phone but not the power source.  Obviously, it doesn't work very well that way. Our Christian walk is much the same. We don't have much power if we don't stay plugged into the source. God gives us everything we need.  Prayer, His Word, and the Holy Spirit living within us. Not only can we stay charged up, we can help others ...

I came in late from work one day and had no idea what I was going to cook.  I decided that a breakfast supper would be quick and easy. I fried bacon and eggs, and I thought I'd try cooking some Pillsbury biscuits in the air fryer. After several minutes, I commented to Rusty that they were the best-looking canned biscuits I’d ever seen. They had risen perfectly and were a beautiful golden color. Too bad I didn't know to flip them halfway through the cooking process. As  I lifted the first one from the basket, I discovered that the bottom was completely raw, and the inside wasn't much better. Sometime later, I went into a local Dollar General that I hadn't visited much. It wasn't one of the new metal buildings that seem to magically pop up overnight every few miles down the road. Instead, it was an older block building that looked like it could use a coat of paint and had definitely seen its better days. Although the outside wasn't very appealing, I was surprised ...

I’m sometimes bad about putting things off until the last minute if it's something I don’t enjoy doing. Surely I’m not the only one that’s guilty of that. Although it would be much easier to pace myself and not have to rush to the finish line to meet a deadline, sometimes I can get more done in a short period of time than you would think possible. If you've ever found out that you have last minute, unexpected company coming, you may know what I'm talking about. It's amazing how I can get more cleaning done in a short time frame than I did all week... if I'm in a mad rush. (See video below). John Ciardi is quoted as saying, " Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute. " For the most part, procrastination only harms ourselves, but sometimes it also puts extra stress on those around us. I remember many years ago when I had to give a speech at graduation. I waited until the last minute to edit and memorize my speech. Mom and my senior sponsor...