Thanksgiving week and this morning we have a lot to be thankful for. The sun is shining, the temperature might be a tad cool but we are going up to sixty-three degrees today This Tuesday we will be having an afternoon dinner with my sister and her friend. Then on Wednesday Julie will be down with the pups and Thursday Jim will arrive and sister-in-law Karen will be joining us for the Thanksgiving meal. Sunday I think we will be going up to Karen's house for Thanksgiving lunch. So, lots of fellowship this week. And --- the church office will be closed this week so no office hours on Wednesday or Thursday. That makes it feel like a vacation week.

Tonight we will be doing our Hanging of the Greens to decorate the church. There will be pizza first and then the flurry begins. I'll go but I'm zero help, so I'll "walk around and be seen" and drink coffee. It will take them a couple of hours and that is about all. Our Sunday school class decorated their tree yesterday so all of us "old people" don't have to get out at night tonight. Zoar is like every other church that I know if; they put up the same decorations every year in the same spots. The only thing that changes is the people that do it. The task drops down to a younger crew each year as it get harder and harder for folks to get up on ladders. I guess you could call it "the passing of the ornament".

We finished up two of our charity drives at church yesterday. For Operation Christmas Child we filled thirty-three shoe boxes. Then for the local food bank we collected 337 can of corn. I'm really proud of our church because they really do a lot for missions around the world and here at home. That is after-all where the church truly is; outside the door of the church building. I'm really pleased with our youth teachers and leders because they constantly have something going for the kids to help with or some drive going. Last month they were collecting socks for needy children through some program They were trying to collect 200 pair of childrens socks. I'm not sure how many pair they ended up with but I do know that the box was overflowing. Teaching a child to give at an early point in their life will develop them into tithing member for later life.

I had lots of cardinals at the Backyard Buffet this morning. I still have not made it to the two stores to get more bird feeding products. That is on my list for today after I leave the office. Ms. Kate has decided that she wants to also get a turkey for either Thanksgiving or for after Thanksgiving. Right now her plan is to bake a fresh ham. But, dressing, and oyster dressing does not go with ham.

Well, I'm at work so I should probably dedicate at least some of my time to doing some work. I'm working on my January 19th sermon so there is plenty of time; but --- I might as well get it done.
I hope you have a wonderful day.