It's the time of year when spiders build large webs around our home (which is semi located in the country).  One of these webs recently took shape near our front walk way; it was attached between a tree in our yard and our front lamp post.  A rather large spider was busy at work and paused only for a moment to make sure we weren't going to bother him.  (Or her, I really couldn't get close enough to tell).  I teased our adult daughter, who is quite small in frame, telling her not to get too close.  I warned that given her weight and size, if she got tangled in that web the spider might just have her trapped!  She laughed but seemed to heed my warning and kept a safe distance.  But as I thought about our "jesting" with each other I realized that it is usually not "the web of another" that entangles us but rather the webs that we ourself spin through our lies, deceit, and sin....

We almost had a calamity the other day as we prepared to launch our church's Pumpkin Patch.  The pumpkins were originally scheduled to arrive on Friday afternoon.  This time was scheduled so that our Scouts, youth group members, and school sports participants could be present to help us unload the truck.  Each year it is a blessing to have so many young people doing the "heavy lifting" as 900 pumpkins are moved from the back of a truck to the appropriate pallet's in our Pumpkin Patch.  But, this year our truck could not make it at the scheduled time.  Instead, it arrived on a Tuesday morning at 9:30 (while school is in session).  Further, our church was experiencing email difficulties and we had difficulty communicating about the immediate need for workers.  For a while I thought there may be only 4 of us who would be working all morning and afternoon trying to get our Patch set up.  But then a miracle happened., the Faithful showed up...

My wife and I had a wonderful time, recently, visiting in the home of some of our church members, Jake and Dorotha.  It was a day of joy as Jake was celebrating his 97th birth day!  Jake and Dorotha are both restricted in their activities now, due to challenges with their health, but just two years ago Jake was still mowing (on a riding mower) our church lawn on a weekly basis.  Dorotha too, until just before the covid pandemic, was a regular participant in our services of worship, United Methodist Women, and our Wednesday night fellowship.  Throughout the years both have served the church, community, and our nation in many, many ways.  Truly they are a part of what we know as, The Great Generation...

The Prayer Garden at my church looks beautiful right now.  That has not always been the case; even a month ago it was more of an eye-sore than a source of inspiration.  But several members of the church decided it was time to give our Prayer Garden a little "tender love and care" and they did just that.  The transformation has been amazing and now it is truly a place of beauty.  People are visiting it once again; it is again a place for meditation and prayer.  Once again it has become a place of blessing for many....