THANKSGIVING DAY WILL SOON BE HERE! There may be a tendency for some this year to say with the economy the way it is, what is there to be thankful for? The Pilgrims had a very difficult winter. They lost half of their number due to sickness that first year. And yet when the fall of the year came they looked back and said we must thank God for how He has blessed us! Our national leaders today do not mention God very much. God has been expelled from our schools and courthouses for the most part. But we are a nation that has truly been blessed by God. In the worst of economic times we still have it better than most people have it during the good times. We are blessed. Let’s not forget to give thanks to God!

     WE AS A CHURCH HAVE BEEN BLESSED! Even during tough economic times we have been blessed. We are running ahead of budget this year. That’s right, ahead of budget. We have recently bought a good used school bus for $20,000. It is a 2000 International bus with factory air-conditioning and about 58,000 miles which on a diesel motor is not much at all. Our Child Development Center split the cost with us. We paid cash. Our only debt as a church is our sanctuary, except for a little we owe on one of our vans. The only reason we don’t pay the van off is because we are not paying any interest on it. The debt on our sanctuary is something we would all like to see paid off. We are getting there. >From our 2.1 million dollar loan we are down to about $625,000. We have paid 1.5 million dollars on our sanctuary debt in the last four and one-half years and that is just on the priniciple, it doesn't include the interest which has been considerable. We praise God for His goodness and look forward to the day when we can "burn the note" because it has been paid in full!

     I HOPE YOU CAN KEEP PUTTING UP WITH ME AS A GRANDFATHER! We are about to have a grandson right here in Blanchard and in our church. Lonnie and Mari should have their baby boy soon, very soon. We are excited for them (and for ourselves)! I will have pictures of course but you will soon be able to see the little fellow for yourselves. I think sometimes of our first mission trip to Romania when we first met Mari. Later she and Lonnie dated, fell in love and got married. Now they will have a son and we will have a grandson. It shows us God has plans we know nothing about. God is good. We are thankful!