Just think of all the things that didn't go wrong today! Now if we can get through 365 more (it' a Leap Year) we're going to have a great year on the books.
I'll always associate Leap Years with Marie Ballard. Ken & Marie were seniors in our church in Riverside CA, both now with the Lord. Marie was born on Feb. 29th and so only had a birthday every fourth year. We had fun with that and made a big deal out of any birthdays she had. Marie was a wonderful, godly lady who knew the Bible very well and loved to talk about it. She had been the bookkeeper at the Riverside School for the Deaf for decades and had a wit as sharp as her pencil. She lived well into her 80's. (We'd moved to Michigan before she died so I'm not sure exactly how old she was. Could have been in her 90's.) Or she was in her late 20's, depending on how you count it.
What do you do with a dog born on Feb. 29th? Dog years divided by 4? Or would it be times 4?
Did you watch the hockey game on TV today? Very cool! They played outdoors in Buffalo, the Sabres vs. the Penguins. They had sun, they had wind, they had sleet, they had snow and they had 73,000 people to see it all. During the third period the snow building up on the ice slowed the puck down and made decent shots almost impossible. The game went into overtime and then to a shoot-out. Everybody - the players and the fans - were totally hyped by the whole experience. When the kid, Crosby, scored the winning goal on the last shot of the shoot-out the place went crazy, even though it was a Buffalo crowd. And the players from both teams raised their sticks in the air to salute the fans who cheered through almost two hours of Buffalo weather. That's the way professional sports should be done!
Speaking of buffalo, a guy in the northeast valley has two of them on his land. For some reason he decided yesterday to put a saddle on one of them and ride it. The buffalo didn't think this was such a great idea and bucked the man off. Then gored him. He'll survive; the wounds weren't too serious. But at 73 years old you have to wonder about his mental state.
We get some really great news stories here.
Tonight we went over to Josh and Aubri's to talk through the arrangements for Sunday's services. Where will the seating go? The white board? The laptop? Will the mic work OK? I think we've got all the issues worked out. (An IM with Jeff got a computer problem solved. Thanks, Jeff!) Then we had some pizza and played Wii. I lost. Big.
Lots of unknowns headed into Sunday, but I'm OK with that. I really do believe God will do with this as he sees fit, and thus the outcome will be unquestionably good. But I've also been around enough to know that if this effort grows into a church it will be accompanied by the pains of birth. Set-backs, frustrations, complications, disappointments. All of that comes with the territory. But the one thing I dread most is conflict between people. Those are avoidable - unnecessary and improper for God's people. Issues of space, finances and other logistical matters will always yield to some kind of solution. But people...they will only yield when they decide that any issue not directly tied to biblical truth is not an issue that should lead to conflict. We can disagree, but it should be done in an agreeable manner. And we may diverge, but it should be with peace. Conflict, hostility, is wrong.
So please pray with us. Pray that this will grow into a church that serves him, Deo Volente. Pray that the logistical issues will yield to good solutions. And pray that the people involved, myself included, will always act in ways that honor God.
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