THANKSGIVING REFLECTIONS

Thanksgiving turned out to be a lovely time. I wondered for a while how this would go, since most of my family was out of town. Only one of the daughters could be with us, also.

We were blessed to have our friends, Todd and Joanna, celebrate with us. They also brought their daughter, Grace, who seemed to have a grand time and even took a short nap.

The Little Woman cooked turkey and pumpkin pie and homemade bread. Joanna brought a yummy looking sweet potato dish (if you are not from the South, you won't understand)and a chocolate chip pie, and the Baby contributed the classic green bean casserole. It all smelled delicious.

Todd and I had a good visit hanging out in the living room and staying out of the kitchen. Later we all watched the football game. Since Todd's roots are in Tennessee and Joanna's in Louisiana and Texas, and they attended college in Alabama, they are great football fans. So we all watched the Dallas Cowboy game together. The Cowboys did their part with an entertaining win.

Grace contributed by being her playful self. She and I played chase for a good while. Ah for the days when "come get me" signals many minutes of fun.

Many attacks on Thanksgiving were made this year. College professors professed to dig up the "truth" about the original celebration (the truth is never what we all know and love, have you noticed?) and atheists continued their fruitless harangue against all things Christian. Despite them all, Americans by the millions celebrated the day, and millions took some time to thank the Lord for the blessings he has given us and our country.

We did too, and are the better for it.

HIGHWAY 6 RUNS BOTH WAYS: SONGFEST, MATT CHANDLER & THE EDGE

I spent this week end in College Station and on the road to and from. I have driven this route so many times, I know where all the landmarks are. I drive I-35 South to Waco and get off at Exit 339, usually stopping at the Starbucks there. From there, I take Highway 6, a State Highway, all the way to College Station. It bypasses some of the towns now, but you still drive through the thriving metropolitan areas of Reisel, Caldwell and Hearne. Most of them have speed traps and supplement their municipal income of A&M students and there parents.

The purpose of this visit was to see The Baby perform at Songfest as part of Philadephia Sisters. She did some C&W and a Cha-Cha, very versatile. It was a good show and raised a lot of money for charity. It is the young adult's version of "Daddy, watch me!"

For a moment, I forgot that I was not at a high school football game watching her march in the band. I yelled "go Claire". She heard me. Life is good. I wonder if the Seminary Daughter will let me do this at her graduation.

On Sunday, we drove out in the country to the little village of Edge. The Baby had agreed to play the piano for them. When she said we were going to Edge Baptist Church, I thought I was in for candles, piercings and overuse of the word "like".

But, it was the opposite, a small rural congregation of about 20, meeting in a small two room building. They were thrilled to have her there. As it turns out, she had been there before to deliver a talk about her mission trip this summer to Moldova. (I didn't say "preach"; I don't want to ruin her possible future at a Southern Baptist seminary. She just related and exhorted.) She had obviously made a big impression on them. They also made it clear they would like for her to come often and play the piano.

The congregation was thrilled to have us there. Every one of them came to us and introduced themselves. This does not happen in my big church. In fact, a lot of people who know me do not make the effort to speak to me. (Oh, maybe that is BECAUSE they know me.)

The pastor did not preach an exegetical sermon, my preference, but did a heart-felt talk of all he was thankful for and all we have to be thankful for, reminding us that the Bible exhorts us to thank God in all things. It was very nice.

On the drive to and fro, the Little Woman and I listened to Matt Chandler sermons. Matt is the pastor of The Village, which is the cool term for Highland Village Baptist Church. He is young, in his early 30s, but passionate and Biblical. We listened to the Core Values series, finishing the ones we did not get to on our last trip. Then, we listed to his first 2 sermons on Luke. They were great. I felt we really "redeemed the time" and I recommend Chandler to you. You can download his sermons from the Village website or do like I do and subscribe to his podcast through iTunes. I burned them to a CD and we played them on the CD player in the LW's car. All of his stuff is free.

This all made the week end a whirl wind. But, it was good. All the things that matter were there. I got to spend time with the Little Woman, see one of my kids and support her in her activities, worship on Sunday with some new friends, and listen to great preaching during the drives.

This is what life is for me. Faith and family. Faith for me means living it all the time, reading, praying, fellowshipping, thinking, and helping others. Family means being the man for all my women, husband and father, supporting them, encouraging them and enjoying them.

I do the last part best, I think.

JOHN MCARTHUR FOR FREE

You can now get free downloads of John McArthur's sermons on his website: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons.

You can't do better than that.

THOUGHTS ON THE ELECTION PART 1

I did not vote for Obama, but am not near as worried as many of my friends. I do think many things will be different in a few years, and not all of them good, but I have been trying to think of some good things, too.

The first good thing is the possibility that racism will decline as an issue. Maybe the election of a Black man will tell American Blacks that truly the average white person is not a racist and does not think poorly of him because he is Black. I am not denying that there are racists around in the white population, but I am arguing that the average white person is not a racist.

The average white person is more interested in whether you are a nice person. He or she may not understand everything you do, but, largely, they do not care, as long as you do not do anything that harms them. They feel the same about their white neighbors.

If you are pleasant at work and do your job, he does not care what color or race you are. In fact, it is interesting to work with different kinds of people and learn about the different things they do and think. If you are a good neighbor, they do not care what country your ancestors came from.

America is a land of great opportunity. Slavery was wrong. We should have abolished it sooner. Segregation was wrong. We should have abolished it sooner. Racism is wrong and we should all stop it. But we do not those things now and, for the most part, you have a shot at doing anything you are talented enough to do. If Vietnamese immigrants can come over not even speaking the language, start off in refuge camps, then go on to own their own homes and businesses and have their kids become valedictorians of their high schools and go on to get college degrees, you can do it to.

Now, Obama has proved it is true. He has a first class education. He has published books. He has been elected to various political offices, representing people of different races.

And now, he has had millions of Americans have trusted him with their destiny.

And most of those Americans are white.

LIGHTER THAN EXPECTED VOTING

Despite forecasts of a heavy turnout, most polling places here in Tarrant County say there are no lines and they do not expect a record turn out. Most of the polls are quiet and they are just waiting for the after work, last minute crowd.

THE BEST NEWS OF THE ELECTION SO FAR

Starbucks will give you a free coffee if you have voted.