In a few days from now, all (or at least most) of you will be opening presents. I won't be doing that at my house. Oh, not because I am the Grinch or anything like that. Dave, my sonny boy, is flying off to Denver on Wednesday and will be gone until next year. While I enjoy gifts, both giving and getting, I always felt this was a holiday more about kids than about adults and so we accommodated Dave by having it a week+ early.

Remember that snowy day last Monday, when there was no school and the roads were messy? Yes, that was the occasion. Rather than have Dave open his presents and then flyaway the next day, we had it early so he would have a little time to enjoy them before he left. Now, many of the kids here would probably love to get their toys a week or so early, but then when the holiday came they would be mighty disappointed to get nothing else! So maybe some things are better left as they are.

But, not only Dave opened gifts, I got some too! One of my gifts was my wife taking the first three years of my bulletins and compiling them into a book for me! It's bad enough to read this bantering week after week, imagine getting a big dose of it all at once. Still, it's an interesting thing and I want to comment on it a little today.

First off, it's kind of neat to see my primitive bumbling confusing articles have evolved into these modem bumbling confusing articles! You'd think I'd get better over time. As I re-read some of them, I recall the intention at the time they were written. Most are just to edify, that's true, but some were meant for specific reasons. There were rocky times in the lives of various members, times when they could have despaired, and I tried to tailor-write an article to be good for all of us but for them in particular. There were troubled times for the church, and [ tried to inject a little calm into everyone. Finally, there were all sorts of changes going on. Not just bad ones, but good ones too, the whole gambit. New people carne in, old friends moved out. Babies were born, and some people passed on. In a way, the babble I wrote chronicles this on a week by week basis.

It also shows the exact same things about ME as it does the church. I had need of a lot of edification, and it's true it's better to give than to receive. In writing, I have given a lot and it's done a lot for my personal, spiritual growth. I have had rocky times in my life, and some of the articles leak that through. All kinds of changes happened to me while I have been writing these, too. I have changed positions in my company. I have different cars in my garage (except my beloved Tracker!) and my once fun hobby of video game making was destroyed by money. Who's life is static, really? Things change every day, and many of these made good bulletin topics.

This book also shows the exact same things about my family as it does me and the church! Deniese has helped me a lot in writing, and even Dave has helped me sound out ideas now and then. It's made all of us more spiritual minded about things. Of course, if something was troubling Deniese or Dave I would use that as fodder for a bulletin, without being too obvious about it to embarrass them, because I reckon'd anything that they needed help with there would be others that needed the same. As a family, we've had ups and downs (and no, Dave, not just because you went from nice kid to teenager!
The most glaring thing, I guess, it that it seems quite useless on the surface. The same problems I wrote about and "solved" keep on happening. Changes never stop, we all still need encouraged, and it appears the bulletins did very little good at all. However, while the situations may not change, I know that >1< am not the same person I was those years ago. And all the advice I ever gave I really only ever seriously gave to myself. Every article was for me, imploring ME to improve, nudging ME to step up the pace, reminding ME that God is in control. If you happened to grow and be encouraged along with me, great! All I can say, even after reading over these past articles, is that now more than ever I understand:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Randy