Pastor H. Gene Allen

Today has been “Me and My Maria Day!”  First, we slept late. Do you know how nice it feels to not set an alarm? Well, we had that privilege this morning. I won’t say how late we slept, but it was very nice and afterward, I did feel a little guilty.

We ate a late lunch at Olive Garden; they have the best soup, salad and breadsticks don’t they? I had Steak Toscana and Maria had the Lasagna Rollitini. It was excellent! I had to laugh at Maria; I’m always teasing her about being “HM,” (High Maintenance). So during lunch there were three breadsticks left. She says to me, “If you see our waiter again, tell him we need some more breadsticks.”  I said, “But we still have three breadsticks left.” She responded, “Yes, but they’re hard and we need some fresh ones.” So guess what? We got some fresh breadsticks; and for $50 bucks, Maria should have all the fresh breadsticks she wants!  No dessert there, because we had another stop.

Dessert was popcorn and soda at Warren Theater! We saw “Up!” in 3D. It was a packed theater, but the movie was great. It’s all cartoon, and I’m really not into the Disney type kid’s movies, but this one is really good. They say it’s better than “Toy Story;” however, that might be a stretch. A child would have to be the judge of that. I’d recommend it though. I’ve honestly never seen a movie in 3D before, so I thought it was really cool.

Second dessert was a shared Turtle Concrete from Freddie’s. We’ll start counting the calories again on Monday.

It’s been about an hour since the concrete, and as I’m writing, Maria is setting in her chair eating a green popsicle. (I just told her I wrote that and she’s laughing and saying you guys are probably going to think she’s a pig.)

So that has been our Saturday! It’s been fun and relaxing. Married couples need to make sure that they take time out for time together; and they should try to do it at least once each week. You need that time to recognize and reaffirm who you are as a couple. I believe that you need, “Many mini vacations.” Today, Maria and I had a “mini vacation.” Take the time to be alone together and enjoy each other’s company. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much it will enrich your lives and remind you of your love.

Sunday’s coming and

It’s been fun sharing. I hope you have a great Saturday evening, and rest very well tonight.

Plan now for church tomorrow, and say a prayer for the church service and your pastor. Go to church expecting God to move in your life in a great way, and He’ll do just that.

God bless!

Gene

Hello to all my readers!

Well, this is it; my Alpha Blog. My first in the world of blogging. I admit that this will stretch me some. A good stretch takes a lot of energy, some weird twist and sometimes crazy facial expressions, but when it is over, you always feel really good! I hope after you experience my blogs that you will feel something good; at least encouraged and perhaps even driven to think a little deeper.

I would call today’s snap-shot of my personal big picture, transitional. I am not in transition, but it seems that a lot of elements that surround me are.

Transition: My youngest daughter just graduated high school; about 10 more weeks home and she moves to Springfield, MO to attend Evangel University. That’s BIG! That’s my baby girl moving six hours away! I have to be honest, it’s been pretty tough on me and Mom. She is enrolled and accepted; scholarships galore (thank you Jesus!); now, dorm room shopping. We’re excited, and a little sad.

Transition: My oldest daughter graduates from Mid-America Christian University in December. She will become an elementary school teacher. We are so excited for her; and then again, I can hardly believe she could be graduating from University. Where has time gone?

Transition: I feel like the church I serve is in a transition. Two steps forward, one step back; and yet, it seems that we are on the edge of what is going to be a tremendous revival. We are praying and planning for it. We are repositioning people, hiring new staff, strategizing outreach opportunities and praying that some of the other gaps will be filled. We know that God has something big in store. Yet, I have to be honest, some of this transition has caused me some pain and some concern. It has forced me to go afraid. It has caused me to use faith that I honestly didn’t know that I had. But we are now beginning to see the pain turn to praise. Brokenness and barrenness is now turning into fruitfulness.

God will always be moving and stretching you. Don’t fight the stretch! Let God mold and make you into what He wants you to be. Have you ever stretched real big, like after you wake up in the morning, and the stretching kind of hurts? Well, God stretching you may hurt just a little, but after the brief adjustment, you are going to feel better than you have in a long while. Let God do what He wants to do in your life. You’ll be better than ever!

“Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?” God’s Decree! “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel.”  Jeremiah 18:6  THE MESSAGE

Happy Days!

Pastor Gene