FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART April 1, 2024

Planning a trip involves a lot of hard work. As you may know, my wife and I are leaving on Thursday of this week for a trip to California to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary. I need to give credit where credit is due! Sandy has made all the plans for this trip, including travel and lodging. She has put in a great deal of time and effort, making hotel selections and choosing the sites along the way. My only input was the type of rental car, a Mustang convertible.

We are looking forward to just having some time together, away from the busyness and routine of our daily lives. While this is an adventure into some uncharted territory for us, I am looking forward to visiting with some of my cousins, who I haven’t seen in many years. Sandy has also chosen some neat stops along our coastal highway drive. I look forward to having the wind in my hair, as we take in the beauty of God’s creation.

While planning a trip involves much work, so does preparing for the actual trip. There is a lot to do to get ready to be gone for almost a week. I am grateful to my friends and brothers, Mitch Martin and Trent Hall, who will be leading you in worship while Ken and I are both gone next Sunday. We are also blessed to have Joyce Tate, our ever-faithful Church Secretary, who will keep things running smoothly in my absence. As I stated from the pulpit last Sunday, the greatest honor you can extend to me, as your pastor, is to be here on the Lord’s Day when I am gone. I know that God will richly bless your hearts, through Mitch’s message and Trent’s music.

A Golden Anniversary is a very significant milestone in a marriage. I am grateful to God for blessing me with such a loving, devoted and faithful Christian wife, so long ago. I am still not sure what she did wrong to deserve getting stuck with me, but I am thankful the Lord put us together and has kept us together through these many years. I ask for your prayers for us, while we are away. And, I pledge to you my love and prayers for each one of you during this time.

Serving in love,

Bro. Jim