Now That It Is Spring

I was just thinking.... now that it is Spring, that means yard work and lawn mowing.

I think I will trade in my riding mower and go "GREEN".


Al Gore would be so proud of me!

Spring Arrives

March 20, 2008 12:48 AM
Spring begins.
New Beginnings

Fresh Start


Today is the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere. Spring begins on the day of the vernal equinox. Equi-nox means "equal night."

On the equinox, the day and night are of the same length. In the northern hemisphere, the short winter days have been getting longer. Today the days are as long as the nights and tomorrow we'll have slightly more than 12 hours of daylight per day.

Now I look forward to June 21 - the longest day of the year. I loved that day in North Dakota. It was light until almost 10PM! Maybe I can experience June 21 in Alaska sometime. Now that would be fun!

I am looking forward to
A NEW SEASON!!

Red Lobster

Sunday, Joy and I took Glenda to Red Lobster for lunch. We had the nicest surprise... following the meal, our waiter Jimmy said, "Your meal is on us." My first thought was "We didn't complain about anything.... there was nothing wrong with the meal....". We thanked him and he said, "You guys are such good customers, we wanted to thank you."
WOW!

We called the manager over and thanked her and expressed our surprise.

Isn't that nice?! I don't think that has EVER happened to me before.

Thank you Red Lobster!

You'll Never Be Sorry...

Saw a great email this AM.  

YOU WILL NEVER BE SORRY...

..for thinking before acting.

..for hearing before judging.

..for forgiving your enemies.

..for being candid and frank.

..for helping a fallen brother.

..for being honest in business.

..for thinking before speaking.

..for being loyal to your church.

..for standing by your principles.

..for closing your ears to gossip.

..for bridling a slanderous tongue.

..for harboring pure thoughts.

..for sympathizing with the afflicted.

..for being courteous and kind to all.

Don't Miss Easter

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above information, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) that is rare.

Here's the interesting information. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). Hmm, I’d be 280. Just a “spring chicken compared to Methuselah. He reached 969 years of age.

The last time Easter was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Interesting!

You can verify, if you’d like at www.snopes.com.

Encouragement

These past five days following my resignation from First Assembly, Joliet have been unique and interesting.

The outpouring of love, concern, encouragement, positive support, counsel (some interesting aspects to that counsel I must say)...

Phone calls from Alaska to Florida.

Emails from Australia to Ukraine (wow, almost A to Z).


Flowers with a super encouraging note.

Scripture references given to me by people I deeply respect who are quietly, strongly so very godly. Most in the church wouldn't even know them, but these are prayer warriors that heaven recognizes immediately.

Isaiah 45:2

Isaiah 43:18-19

Ephesians 3:20

Luke 12:32

Thank you everyone... It has all given me heart.

I Believe In You

I love dimes. No, I don't have a "thing" for them, but I have been finding dimes on the street or parking lot lately. Pennies are a, pardon the pun, "a dime a dozen". Actually, they'd be 12 to a dozen, but I digress.

Four or five times in the last 10 -12 months, I have found dimes. Either on the parking lot or the entry to Walmart. They say something to me. No, I'm not talking to coins, nor hearing "things" from them.





Several years ago, like maybe 20... I heard a sermon by John Maxwell where he told the story of Bart Starr who was quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.

During the 1965 football season, Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr had a little incentive scheme going with his oldest son. For every perfect paper Bart Jr. brought home from school, his dad gave him ten cents.

After a particularly rough game against St. Louis, in which Starr felt he performed poorly, he returned home weary and battered after a long plane ride.

But he couldn't help feeling better when he returned to his bedroom.

There, attached to his pillow, was a note:

"Dear Dad, I thought you played a great game. Love, Bart. "

Taped to the note were two dimes.

I have used that same illustration twice in a sermon. Each time, I distributed a small card that had a dime laminated to it, simply saying "I believe in you."

Several times over the past 20 years, I have had people say to me or even show me their card, "Pastor, I still have my dime!" I like to say "And I still believe in you."

We all need someone who builds us up and BELIEVES IN us.

For me, each time I find a dime, I hear God saying, "I believe in you."

Friday afternoon, I was walking into Walmart. Heavy on my heart was the thought that I was going to be resigning from the church I had led for the past 10 1/2 years. As I walked through the doors, there all alone on the floor was a dime. I stopped and picked it up. It is going in my journal.
Thank you God for your encouragement.