Pastor, FBC Hallsville

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning was a wonderful worship experience.  Several others commented with something of the same sentiments.  The music was fantastic and the interspersed readings of the story of the birth of Jesus just made the whole experience one that I came away from with a sense of peace and joy.  Peace and joy are the very things that the birth of Christ brought to our world.  Ed did the planning for the service.  He did a great job of putting that all together. 

Next Sunday night is Family Night at Christmas for FBC.  I always enjoy that night.  Usually a number of children from our church will play the piano or sing and it is really a fun time.  I am amazed every year how these kids develop their musical skills.  One day they are going to be the leaders in worship at some church.  The staff has been talking about putting something together for that night.  You know I'm not a singer so it might be worth your time to show up and see what happens.  Who knows, I might surprise you. 

Keenagers

The Keenagers met today.  There were about fifty in attendance.  David and Martha Mohn sang some Christmas songs.  As usual they did a great job and everyone seemed to really enjoy David and Martha.  I miss them since they moved to Mt. Pleasant.  David and Martha are members of FBC Mt. Pleasant.  We had fried chicken for our meal along with the side dishes that the older adults bring from home.  These ladies know how to cook and so the meal was great.  Monty had some games we played and gave out the prizes to the winners.  One game was a kind of name that tune but instead of using few notes from the tune we had a sheet of paper with pictures.  You had to figure out which Christmas song went with the picture.  My table did not do too well.  I think I had a handicap because Thomas R, Tom A, and Billy D were at my table.  Again the food and especially the fellowship was great.  If you are ever free on a Thursday that the Keenagers meet just show up.  We have all ages in attendance.  Some in their nineties and one just a year old.  (That is the Linebergers great grandson, the Slocum's handsome little one.)  You'll get a good meal, some great fellowship, and the programs are always good.

Christmas Party

Becky and I attended the Pairs and Spares Class Christmas Party at the Shirley and Steve's home on Sunday evening.  We had a great time.  We arrived just in time to watch the Cowboys lose and then we had a great meal and some wonderful fellowship.  We try to make at least one SS party each year.  I wish we could get to all the parties because we always have such a good time visiting with the good people of the First Baptist Family.  Anytime I get to fellowship with some of the First Baptist Family it makes me so thankful that I get to serve this congregation.  We are blessed to be in Hallsville at FBC.

On Friday evening our eating group got together at Steve and Linda's house to finish off the Thanksgiving leftovers.  (the eating group is composed of several couples and one single from the First Baptist Family.  It is an informal group that gets together if nothing else is happening.)  Anyway, I decided to make falafal.  I found a recipe that I like and made some.  Falafal is the national dish of Israel.  When Becky and I traveled in Israel we had falafal several times.  Falafal is basically a fried ball of mashed chick peas, chopped onions and red bell pepper.  You put the falafal balls in a pita bread to make a sandwich.  It was a big hit.  I have the recipe if you are interested.

We got great news last week from the doctor.  Becky's count is down in the normal range.  We are thankful that there appears to be no cancer present at this time.  Praise the Lord!  We think that she may have a couple more rounds of chemotherapy and then stop and watch.  Thanks for all the prayers.

First Place in the Christmas Parade and thoughts

The Hallsville Christmas Parade was held last night.  It was an enjoyable time.  (Martha was with me and she thoroughly enjoys working a crowd.)  The parade had all the usual things.  There were horses, fire trucks, The Hallsville High School and Hallsville Junior High Bands, the Belles, floats, and other assorted vehicles.  They threw candy to the kids and waved at everyone.  FBC Hallsville had a float in the parade that looked really good.  The GAs put together the float.  It won first place!  My thanks to the GA leaders for working hard to get all of that together.  Great job!!!

There was one thing that kind of concerns me about the Christmas parade.  This is a fairly recent thing.  I remember thinking about this last year.  This year there were some guys on four wheelers doing some wheelies and stunts and also there was a group of Harley riders gunning their engines and taking some short bursts of speed and coming to a pretty quick stop.  In light of the tragedy that just happened at the Overton parade I think that in the interests of the safety of the kids lining the street we would be better off without the show stunts.  I am afraid that one of the stunts is going to go awry and send some vehicle into the crowd.  I don't know exactly who has responsibility for policing the parade but I plan to talk to the Hallsville police department about these issues.  If you know who to talk to about this I would encourage you to do so.

Thanksgiving

The holiday is over and I admit that I ate too much.  It doesn't help my commitment to eat less than last year when my wife is a very good cook.  Or at least that seems to be my excuse for stuffing more food in my mouth.  Now I have to watch what I eat for the next few weeks.  One of the things that the doctor told me is bad for my disease is eating things with high fat content.  I really blew it on Thanksgiving Day.  I'll pay for that this week with a decrease in energy and sometimes just not feeling well.  So, thank you Lord for the great food and the senses to enjoy it.  Now Lord, help me to get over the effects of eating some things I should not have eaten.

I had my grandson, Blain, for two days over the Thanksgiving Holiday.  We rode the four-wheeler which Blain absolutely loves.  We played in the leaves and I pulled Blain in the wagon in our driveway.  Otherwise we just hung out together and I had the most wonderful time you can imagine.  Well, if you have grandkids you know what I'm talking about.  Thank you Lord, for my family.  I am blessed.

Becky has her third and last chemotherapy treatment on Tuesday.  It takes five hours to administer the two drugs.  Next week will be an off week and then the following Tuesday she starts another round of chemotherapy.  She has had very little side effects from the chemotherapy.  Just a little fatigue.  Thank you Lord, for your healing and care for Becky.