Sunday at Centerville

Our time at Centerville Baptist Church this past Sunday was a nice and edifying. Brother Gary and Beth were out and he asked me to fill in for him. That was my first time to preach since October, and I enjoyed it immensely. I preached on "Faith in the Book of Psalms," one of my better ones if I were to judge, but I learned time ago not to trust my estimate on those types of things. The content was there and I felt a liberty to preach. But from my over two decades of pastoring at the Moorhead Church of God, the ones I thought were the best were seldom commented on. When I felt life I totally bombed, I had the most positive remarks. It could be that the congregation, on the difficult sermons, perceived my struggles and were just being nice. I don't know.

Besides preaching, it was Movie Day which we had not held since early November. When we have Movie Day, we always eat and who doesn't like to eat? Surprisingly, this come on the heels of Sheila Mitchell, the Sunday School teacher, asking me to teach on nutrition the week before. Normally on Movie Day we don't have Sunday School, but since I did not finish my presentation on nutrition, she asked us to come in thirty-minutes early so I could finish up.

To my pleasant surprise, everyone brought a healthier selection of food than normal. Sheila brought the spaghetti which was made with whole wheat pasta. She also had some zucchini spaghetti that was more than good. Gerald brought enough salad stuff to feel a junior high football team and he included eggs, mushrooms, and cheese for protein and tomatoes for taste. I don't know who bought the desert, but it was cottage cheese and fruit. For once I left without feeling guilty for eating too much and consuming way too many calories. I ate enough to be satisfied but I didn't overindulge. The food tasted good and was good for our bodies. That's a win win.

We couldn't find the movie we were scheduled to watch, but that was OK. Everyone was relaxed, and we just sat around and visited. We walked out of the church to crows cawing across the road in the warm winter air. This is turning out the be a winter after mine own heart, a typical winter that I was beginning to fear had left us for good. After six straight cold ones, I was believing our climate had changed permanently for the colder. If this weather holds, I will be swimming outdoors soon. Thank you, Lord.