As I prepare to start on my annual vacation tomorrow, I’m reflecting on the fact that this has been a very busy season of life for our church family…

Wow!  This past week has been incredibly rewarding, but also incredibly busy!  Our Athens Vacation Bible School went over very well…

Ah, weatherman... you lied to me...

Okay, it’s Summer now.  Hot, sticky Summer...

Man, about half of our church family is out sick with this respiratory thing!  Whatever virus this is, I’d really like it to stop chewing on our FCCers -- well, and on everyone else in Central Illinois...

As I write this, my printer isn’t working, my car just made a truly nasty sound when I parked, and my cell phone is suddenly no longer able to make or receive phone calls.  It’s been that kind of day for mechanical devices for me, I suppose...

Pentecost Sunday is always an interesting day, if for no other reason than it’s always interesting to see how God wants us to celebrate and remember it.  In past years, we’ve had people read Scripture in various languages, or provided sound effects of a rushing wind, or Sara even let me set her hair on fire one time…

Apparently, Central Illinois is struggling with the second round of this super-flu that’s been going around since early April.  So I’m on my second round of antibiotics, and half of our church family is coughing and blowing their noses and/or home with a fever.  Please be praying for all of your sick brothers and sisters…

Before I forget, let me wish all of you the chance to spend time to honor Memorial Day! Whether you call it “Memorial Day” or “Decoration Day,” or point back to the Civil War or World War I for its inception, or use the day to honor those who have died or those who have retired or those who are currently still in uniform, the whole point of this weekend is to genuinely appreciate those of us who have placed themselves in harm’s way, to help prevent that harm from reaching the rest of us…

God’s got an amazing sense of humor -- the kind of high level, “this is only funny if you put pieces together that you’d never have thought would have had anything to do with one another but upon retrospect you realize constitute a huge shaggy dog story that the angels have been giggling for weeks anticipating the punchline for” sort of joke…

Before I forget, let me wish each and every one of you reading this a Happy Mother’s Day…!

Before I forget, let me wish each and every one of you a very Happy Cinco de Mayo! Having said that, do you know why people celebrate Cinco de Mayo…?

For a Sunday when half the church family was out with whatever nasty sinus infection eventually turned into bronchitis for me, we had an amazingly special, beautiful day together in worship!

Before I forget, let me wish each and every one of you a very Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Welcome to Holy Week!  Every day has its own traditions and rituals, and if they draw people closer to God and deepen their genuine relationship with Him, then I’m all for them…