Unconditional Love - Amazing!

Here is the winner of the annual ugly dog contest at the Marin-Sonoma County Fair. Elwood placed second last year. Way to go Elwood! Read the complete story here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286382,00.html

It reminds me of how God loves us no matter what!

Good Intentions and Funerals!

I had SUCH good intentions about posting more regularly, but since my last post I have done another two funerals, with another pending tomorrow! That will be 12 since the first of February. Throw in Vacation Bible School and other miscellaneous happenings and there you have my excuses for being such a sorry blogger!

Back to the funerals....they are a part of a minister's turf, I guess. Sometimes you have warning, sometimes you do not. Still, I have found these unexpected times of ministry to be one of my more significant ministries...not that I'm that great a judge of what is "significant" ministries these days. Still, it is an honor to be the one to celebrate a person's life (which is "usually" possible...there have been rare exceptions.) and to remind folks of how powerful gratitude for a person's life can be to help make the pain of loss more bearable. I remind folks that everyone in your life who is precious to you was God's idea, and we should not let the pain of their passing eclipse that basic fact or our gratitude. Enjoy the people in your life while you have them, and find ways to express your gratitude to them NOW!

And for some fun, go to: http://www.jjchandler.com/tombstone/ to generate your own tombstone! Here's mine:

I am NOT Smarter than An Eighth Grader Named Evan

Core: It's not nice to make fun of one's mother!

I am writing from my mom's home. We watched "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" tonight. At one point, I made fun (ever so slightly) of my mother's missing what I thought was an obvious answer. Well, then we watched the end of the national spelling bee.

The winner was a home-schooled 8th grader named Evan. Here are the last seven words he spelled: rascacio, schuhplattler, laquear, Zoilus, pappardelle, yosenabe, and serrefine. Wow! Even my computer's spell check couldn't find the right spellings! As we watched this kid spell words that still don't sound like words to me, and trying to make amends for laughing at my mother earlier, I turned to her and said, "Ma, I AM NOT smarter than that eight grader!"