It's About Time!

www.ridgecrestumc.com

It wasn't supposed to hit until noon, but the Great Northerly appears to have roared into town at about 8:00 this morning. I stood outside for just a few minutes, with my heavy coat on, at about 10:00 and nearly froze to death. And while I'm not sure I am ready for the howling, biting wind--I am ready for winter to be here.

This Sunday is the first week of Advent. Advent is the season when we prepare for the birth of the Christ child. With Christmas just around the corner, I am ready for a little winter weather. I don't know how people in tropical climates celebrate Christmas--I guess they do it with a tan. But for me, I don't mind seeing a little of the white stuff. How can you dream of a white Christmas if you don't see any white?

I was excited last Sunday. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is traditionally down a little in terms of attendance. But we had over 120 in worship--that's about 10 above normal. And of those 120, about 17 were visitors. I believe that we are seeing God working in the life of our congregation. I think that this Sunday we will have someone joining the church by profession of faith (assuming that things don't change). This will be 3 weeks out of 4 that we have had someone joining the church. If you or someone you know is thinking about joining our family of faith, this would be a great time to take the plunge.

At my pastor's prayer meeting, we discussed our individual prayer times. Like many of my pastor friends, I have difficulty blocking out time for dedicated prayer. I am committing to being more intentional about a scheduled prayer time. I don't know if you have the same problem--but if you do, there is no better time than now to start a good habit.

Our good friends at Covenant Life Church are providing Christmas Food boxes for families in the Whiz Kids program (many are the same families we deal with in PT). If you would like to purchase a Heartland Share box for a Whiz Kids family, let Linda know. CLC will deliver them for us. The price is $23.00 per box.

Prayer Update:
In case you missed Mark's comment, Joyce is doing a little better. Also, received word that Maxine appears to be doing better and Carol is home after surgery. Also, Ian got good results from his tests and David (the 20 something young man with cancer) is doing better. Thank the Lord for healing.

Be in prayer for Jackie, the sister of Maureen. She has been diagnosed with a large tumor in her brain. They are still running tests to decide if they can do surgery. Pray that healing might come, in what ever way possible. Also, pray for the family. Losing a sibling is very difficult. Maureen definitely needs our prayers.