Reverend Ref +

EASTER 6A

No sermon today. For those of you following this blog (yeah, riiight), you'll remember that a member of the Gideons dropped by the office about 3 or 4 weeks ago and wanted to know if I would allow him to speak to the congregation. Looking at my calendar, it seemed that the week before May 1 would provide precious little sermon-writing time, so I signed him up for then.

I was right. Last week was very busy and it turned out that that was a good call. He was, shall we say, less than dynamic, but we all survived. My two parishes also managed to collect about $150 for the Gideons, not a bad showing at all.

The Kid has a new friend. Actually, they've been working on becoming friends for several months. Now we have instances where he will come over after school, stay for dinner, play catch, etc etc etc. This isn't "boyfriend" material at the moment (thank God). I am, however, thrilled that she has found a good friend in Sheridan, something she was lacking until now.

Why bring that up? Because said friend showed up at church yesterday. All by himself. Wow. I'm not sure I would've gone to a strange church on my own for a friend at that age. He's a good kid. I asked my Kid if she invited him to come back next week. She told me she'd do that at school. And then, in a moment that made my head swell two sizes too big, she said, "I need to tell him that he has to come back to hear my dad preach, because you're really good."

How about that? High praise for the preacher from his pre-teen daughter.

Something else exciting happened yesterday also. Actually two somethings. First, for the first time since I've been here, VC had a higher attendance than Sheridan. We were missing two families at Sheridan, and everyone (including the busy little Gideon) showed up at VC. Not a bad day in the Ruby Valley.

Second, a new guy showed up in VC. Turns out that he is an organist and will be playing the contraption (you really have to see this thing) at the Opera House this summer. He's interested in playing the organ for Sunday services on the days when my regular organist doesn't play. We have a meeting tomorrow to discuss that possibility. Way Cool!! Regular music at VC all summer long. We might even draw people in with that -- who knows.

And finally, there's the play. Um . . . well . . . yeah. Everything will come together by Dress Rehearsal. I'm positive. Really, I am. Honest.