Monday Morning Clarity

Hoping you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. My family and I went to MS to spend 4 days with my extended family in Columbus. We had a great Thanksgiving day at my grandmother's house. It was our first Thanksgiving without my grandmother and I think she was in our thoughts throughout the day - as we made the food, while we ate without her there, as we cleaned up. We truly miss her.

On another note, we had a great holiday weekend watching MS State blow away the Rebels from "that school up North" in the Egg Bowl. Go Dawgs! I couldn't score tickets to the game, but watched it with my brother, my dad, my wife, and my sister-in-law. It was a great game and awesome to see the job that Coach Dan Mullen has been doing finally pay off.

Here are some other random thoughts from the weekend:

• We started our emphasis on the Advent season. Thanks Myron and Holly for kicking us off! Advent means "coming" and is a recognition of the coming of the Messiah. As believers we celebrate Advent as we remember his coming as Savior and his future coming as Lord. Each week we will have a family do a selected reading on Advent and light the appropriate candle. My hope is that this will be a reminder to us all about the anticipation for the real reason for the holiday seaon.
• We also started our "Characters of Christmas" series by looking at Simeon and what we do while we wait on the promise of God to be fulfilled. My hope is that each week we will look at a character and see what their life teaches us about God's plan. I hope it is an encouraging and practical look at Christmas.
• Don't forget that this week is the Week of Prayer for Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Our SBC missionaries need our financial support, but more importantly, our prayer support. God can work around any limit we may have on resources, but he allows us to be part of the process through our prayers.
• Speaking of the SBC, be praying for the Great Commisssion Resurgence Task Force that is meeting this week in Atlanta to help set the tone for much of Southern Baptist life in the next few years. Pray for wisdom and insight for these godly leaders. Go to pray4gcr.com for more info.
• The Sixth Street Adult and Children's choirs are putting on the finishing touches for their Christmas musicals. The adult choir will be this Sunday night at 6 PM and the children's choir will be next Sunday at 6 PM. Thanks to Kevin and these awesome leaders for their hard work.

Verse of the week - Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58