Some of my followers have certainly chastised me of late for my lack of contribution here to their humdrum lives. To that I say "so sorry!" As mentioned a couple of weeks ago I have been up to my armpits in alligators, and they now have begun to nibble away at my neck! That's no excuse for me not stopping by on a regular basis to entertain everyone, but its the best I got. Let me fill you in on some of the goings on in the last week or so...actually the last week and a half.
At last report the cold air was coming crashing our way and the snow was coming with it. That all hit late last Wednesday and lasted into the weekend. We ended up with about 8 to 11 inches of snow, depending on where your yardstick is located, and the winds blew that all about so that it was almost impossible to measure. On that Thursday morning the dog went out the backdoor, disappeared into a drift, and wasn't seen until the following Wednesday when the drift melted enough to allow her to break free. I am happy to report that Dixie is none the worse of the wear and continues to act like a dog 1/13th of her age. The very cold weather lasted until Sunday morning, and since then we have been back into the thawing stage to where most of that snow is now gone again.
On the church side of things all continues to go pretty well. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is a time that us Lutherans, and our Catholic brothers and sisters, spend a 40 day stretch looking even grumpier that we usually do, and feel even guiltier than normal. It's all in preparation for the coming of Easter, the one day a year that we are allowed to smile. There's still no raising of the hands above the head to be tolerated, but we can put on a small grin. With Ash Wednesday and Lent come the weekly Lenten services at the church, which are preceded by soup suppers. This is a pot-luck event where each person brings enough soup for 45 people, and then we wonder why there is so much left over when we finish. We feel guilty about that too!
This morning we had our monthly Men's Breakfast. We get together on the first Saturday of every month to eat more than we should without our wives around to tell us not to. I led the Bible study today, which centered on nakedness. Figure that one out! A little bit later this afternoon I have the pleasure of officiating at a wedding. Actually, I will be co-starring with my mentor, the Reverend Virtus Young. I do all the work, then he steps in to do the vows and gets all the credit. I don't think he feels guilty about that in the least bit. In truth, I am the one who gets to do the wedding sermon, so it's just another opportunity to stand in front of a captive audience and tell 'em what I think. The couple getting married are some of the coolest young people that I know, even if I don't know many young people anymore. In the past month they have come into the office on three different occasions for "pre-marital counseling". That's where they listen to me talk about things that I have very little expertise in and them nod their heads like they think what I am saying is of some value, and they laugh a little when they think I am trying to be funny. About the only thing that I have to offer is nearly 29 years of experience in this being married business and all of the mistakes that I've come up with during that time.
Tomorrow is another Sunday morning, and I have just put the finishing touches on what I am going to say and the PowerPoint presentation that will be up on the screens. Being the last Sunday before Lent the theme for the day is the Transfiguration of Jesus. We always take a look at that part of the Gospel on the last Sunday before Lent. In the transfiguration Jesus appears on a Galilean mountain top in all his glory, radiating incredible light. It's important for us Lutherans to focus on light right before Lent so that we can remember what it looks like through our 40 days of upcoming dark and sour moodiness.
Time to get back to work, I will try to fill you in on how things go in today's wedding and tomorrow morning's church service, but I make no guarantees (I learned that in the weather business). If you're in the neighborhood tomorrow morning why not stop in for worship...oh...say about 9:30. As always, there will be plenty of coffees and baked stuff.
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