I am wiped out tonight. Not sure what truck hit me but it surely did and then backed up over me for good measure. The main culprit is probably the weather. We are in that part of the year where it may go from cool to warm in a hurry. Friday night was fairly cold for us in October. It was my pleasure to stand on top of a press box for about three hours filming a football game. Today was warmer with a south wind. The main point is that breathing is not nearly as easy as usual. Doing my three mile run/walk today didn't help matters any. Maybe the coming rain will ease the pressure in my nose.

At least we can report that it was a pretty good day. It seemed this morning's efforts went fairly well. The one thing that escapes me is how we planned a month long attendance push that never seemed to even reach a nudge. This really isn't to be whining as much as it is a serious question to ask myself over the next few days. It's my opinion that such special events do not work as well as they did even fifteen years ago. Too many people are in blended families or find themselves at work on Sunday. We have to grasp the concept that we as a congregation are called to participate in the work of the church. We are in this thing together for better or worse.

We did have a great time this afternoon and evening. It was our annual fish fry along with entertainment following. If you cannot get baptists to a fish dinner then you have to question their denominational loyalty! We had a typical fish dinner along with the trimmings. It was even an all you can eat meal. Let me just say that is exactly what I did. Luckily my three miles were already finished so there was a little extra room in my tummy. A local bluegrass gospel group sang for us afterward. They are an excellent band. The best part is they sang to a contented crowd who was too stuffed to move. It didn't look like we could get too excited or expressive from the weight of the catfish.

Sadly, the day also had a painful moment. One of my favorite adults here passed away late this afternoon. He and his wife mean a great deal to me. It was confirmed after the singing program concluded while the new widow spoke to me on the phone. So at some point this week it will be my honor to speak at his memorial. This is one of those things about my job that is hard to translate to others. At any given moment of any day there is the possibility of a time like this. It becomes part of the whole of a day. It does not ruin the quality of the entire day but it does serve as reminder that life is measured over a long period of time and not just by individual moments. This is true whether you view the day in a positive or negative light.

We will probably try to translate some of our recent Sunday studies into blog form this week. We are still discussing being successful in our spiritual journey. One of the things we are doing is to demonstrate how this works as individual or as congregation. My goal is to begin tomorrow with the writing. It's about time to call it a night. My bet is there will be little trouble sleeping for me. It's been a good day worth bringing to a close.

Bro. Trey