GETTING IN HOLIDAY MOOD

I love this time of year. This morning I sat out on the front porch with a bowl of fresh fruit and a cup of coffee, watching the sun over the lake and letting my mind wander for a while.

You guessed it, I'm not in New York!

We're in Florida for a couple of days to have Thanksgiving with good friends down here in Dunedin, just north of Clearwater Beach, a practice we started a few years ago. I love watching the crowd shivering at Macy's Parade while it's 80 outside here!

I slept 10 1/2 hours last night, which I think means I'm catching up from the effects of my India trip, hopefully it will mean I'm totally coherent by the time we get home on Friday.

Sunday we're continuing the Miracles series and I'm really looking forward to this weekend when I'll be teaching on Lessons I've Learned When Life Stinks. Personally I think the word "sucks" fits better into that context, but I gather it's not really acceptable to use it in a church setting. So if you're reading this and will be there on Sunday, you'll know what I really mean!!!

I love pastoring a church where I can be honest. I don't have to pretend to be perfect, project that life is perfect and spend all my time beating on others for their imperfections. Lets face it, sometimes life sucks (sorry, I said it!), but it is often at those moments we get to know God better and see him coming through for us.

I think this will be a great Thanksgiving message, because while it's easy to be grateful for all the good stuff, it's another think to appreciate the bad times too.