Same Ole, Same Ole?

I've been having difficulty thinking of stuff to put in entries here lately. Stuff happens or I think of stuff to write, but I question whether it's "blog-worthy", or it doesn't seem that it is, or it seems more like a sermon/lecture, or it seems like something next to nobody else would want to read about, etc.

I forget if I mentioned this here before or not, but Katrina & I signed up with one of those debt management/counselling services about 3 months ago. We're really glad we did and we wish we'd done so sooner! No beating ourselves up for that tho, we're just glad we DID IT!

I'd recommend it to anyone who's even remotely close to "in over their heads" debtwise, and especially if you've ever considered bankruptcy. We'll be out of debt(or at least done with the ones we're using the program/company for) in about 3.5 years, and that sure beats having a bankruptcy on our credit rating for twice that time, let alone taking a LOT longer than that to pay it off on our own and paying a LOT more interest in the process. They estimated that our total payments to(pay off) the debts we're using them for will only be about 1/3 of what they'd be on our own, and that would take a LOT longer too!:)

We joined our church the Sunday before last. Pastor Randy's on vacation for 2 weeks while he and his family take their oldest son, Forest, to college in Wisconsin. It's Forest's freshman year(is "freshman" supposed to be capitalized?), so it's his first time away from home for longer than a few weeks at Summer camp, if that/then.

I almost can't imagine being THAT far away from home when it's your first long-term time away. Then again, my folks figured my first year at college was a lot easier on me than they expected it to be, based on the fact that I wasn't calling home as often as they thought I would. Little did they know it was hell on earth and one of the(if not THE) worst and hardest times in my life - I just knew better than to call THEM looking for support or encouragement.

So, maybe being that far away wouldn't have mattered much for me, I dunno. But Forest's family situation is much different and far more healthier than mine was, so I'm sure it'll be difficult for him.

So, we had a guest preacher on Sunday. It wasn't Pastor Trout, it was a guy I've never met or heard preach before. He was excellent tho! He was as good as Randy, and he preached longer too - which I like, as long as it's merited by the quality of the message, and it definitely was in this case.

The unusual thing here is that he's not a full-time pastor elsewhere; he has a "secular" job during the week. So does Randy, but I didn't get the impression that this guy's a pastor elsewhere "usually". And I know that message took a LOT of time to put together, which makes it all the more impressive. Sure, I know; he prolly had it ready a long time ago, just for situations like this, and maybe preached it other place(s) before last Sunday at our church. But it was still a very encouragingly convicting exhortation and a solidly Biblical message.