Thanks

How long has it been since you told someone "thank you"? That's not a question for you. It is a question for me. I never have trouble telling the waitress thanks when she brings my food or refills my drink. When someone holds the door so I can enter, I always say "thank you". While we were in church last night, it hit me - "how many times have I said thank you to the ones who teach our children, the ones who watch over the little ones in the nursery, or the ones who make sure the church is clean every week( I know the magic geenie blinks her eyes and it is clean). What about at home? Should I even go there? Husband, wife, children, parents tell each other how much you appreciate the things they do for you? As for me I've got a lot of "thanks" to deliver. First, I need to thank God for all of His grace, mercy, and love. Next, I want to thank my beautiful wife for her love, friendship, laughter and grace. Where do you need to start? There is no better time than the present! God Bless!

Commitment

Commitment - a dirty word or a way of life? My wife and I were walking into Kmart yesterday when she noticed she had chewing gum on her shoe. She had a napkin in her purse so I began to work to get it off. As I was cleaning her shoe a older gentleman walked by and made the comment " he might be a keeper". We continued to talk as we walked into the store. He is happily married to the same woman for 45 years. Deana and I will celebrate our 25th year in January. To get back to commitment, what are we committed to? Are we committed to our marriage, our church, our job, our lifestyle? Unfortunately the only thing most of us are committed to is ME, MYSELF, AND I!!! As you go through today think on this - What am I committed to?

First Thoughts

Today I enter a new world of blogging. I'm excited but also a little intimidated. My son, Josh, has been trying to get me to do this for years. I pastor a church in a small Georgia town where I have lived for the last 29 years. Yesterday I took a couple from the church to Atlanta for a doctor's appt. He had a kidney transplant last week and had to go back for his first checkup. The doctor came in to see him and apologized for making us wait so long, but they had surgeries going on and had finished 4 liver transplants, 3 pancreas transplants, and 3 kidney transplants over the weekend. The exciting part is all those people received new life. The sobering part is that someone had to die in order for them to receive this new life. As a believer in Jesus, it made me aware of the sacrifice that my Savior endured so that I might have a new life. If you feel the awesomeness of His love for you today- THANK HIM. Thanks for reading, Bill