When I found out that I was going to be the one to wear the Gingerbread Man costume for the Frederick County Khris Kringle parade I was not all that enthused. It was difficult to put on, it was difficult to move around, and when we got to our group’s location it was very difficult to put on. I couldn’t see and it was terrible hot. But when we walked across the parking lot of the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center we walked passed hundreds of kids.

There were at least twenty kids who immediately ran up to me and started to hug me. Others smiled and waved from a distant. Then something changed in my heart. Pastor scrooge’s heart got two sizes larger. I discovered that whenever children (and many adults) saw me they smiled and many even cheered.

As we walked down the streets of Frederick I gave children high five’s and ran back and forth from one side of the street to another. I gave hugs, patted children on the head, and even petted a dog (which is very dangerous for a gingerbread man). By the half way mark I was drenched in sweat, but I was having the time of my life. I knew what it was like to be “the chicken.” (www.famouschicken.com)

There was another thing that brought joy to my heart other than the smiles of children. The children from our own church handed out over 800 cards advertising our Gingerbread House Building Fun Morning at our church. That’s a lot of cards! They were wonderful.

This morning, miraculously, we were ready to go to the bus stop and school over forty minutes early. I am still not sure how that happened. Our morning routine usually involves hedge hurdles and twenty-five yard dashes to lunge onto the bus at the stop. But not today; today we strolled to the bus stop with all kinds of time to spare. As I stood there basking in the rarity of the moment, Joshua and Caleb began to rummage through their backpacks. They pulled out postcards advertising an event at our church.

On their own they had gotten them off the desk in my office and began to hand them out, inviting their friends to come to the event. They lacked the hesitancy that I usually have to check – they gave them out with a huge smile on their face. It was like they wanted to hand them out (like they “got to”). It reminded me that everything that we do for Christ is because we “get to” not because we have to. It should give us joy to give away the news of what God has done for mankind. They are my little bus stop evangelists, and I pray that their hearts will always be tender toward their friends who don’t know Jesus.

Joshua lost his first tooth tonight. He came over to me, showed me how his tongue could push the tooth backwards and forwards. So, I asked Hannah-Grace to go and get some tissue. I used the tissue to hold the tooth, and with a gentle tug, out it came. The tooth flew into the air and was lost for about 30 seconds. I was scared that it was still in his mouth, so I told him not to swallow. Caleb found it on the floor, and handed it back to me. It is about the size of a match head. The whole event was very exciting and now Caleb and Hannah-Grace are trying to figure out how to get their teeth out as well.

This is the first tooth of eighty teeth that will come out of my children’s mouths. As I write this, Joshua’s tooth is in a zip-lock bag under his pillow and awaits the Tooth Fairy. He is on the top bunk tonight, by the way. Pray that the TF doesn’t break his neck trying to get the bag. How much should he give Joshua? A dime or quarter seems chintzy, but a dollar or five over the course of time comes out to $80 or $400. Yikes! I think we will start small (how does a piece of candy sound?)

This afternoon we had our church’s annual Thanksgiving Fellowship Dinner. We held it at a family restaurant in Thurmont, MD. Some ladies in our church did a wonderful job of decorating, and we even had door prizes. I gave a short devotion from Luke 17:11 ff. we had an “open mike” for testimonies. Caleb (my 5 year old son) wanted to tell everyone that he was thankful for his family. We then watched a slide show and concluded with prayer.

This particular event is always special to me because as the afternoon wears on, at one point I can look over the crowd and see how God has blessed so many people in our church. I know most of their stories and I know how much of a blessing they have been to me.

Also, as we watched the video I was reminded of how many things our church had done over the past year. We, by most standards are a small church, but God has used us to make a huge impact for His kingdom.

God, thank you for my church. Happy Thanksgiving!

Daybreak is finishing our current sermon series “plastic people” this coming Sunday. We also have several weeks before we begin our Christmas series, so I wanted to do something a little different. The apostle Paul has always been one of my favorite men in the Bible, but recently I have been reminded by the fact that Paul’s letters were in large part a series of answers to various questions he received from the church.

Paul’s example got me to consider what it would be like to do something similar. The result is the upcoming preaching series entitled ‘Questions’. It will Begin November 18^th, 25^th, and perhaps even December 2^nd (depending on how many questions I get from you guys).

So send your questions to icthus1st@aol.com and put “questions for Drew” in the subject line. You can send as many questions as you would like, and you can ask about anything you would like. I will not reveal your name or web address in my response, so you can have a degree of anonymity in your questions. Also, please keep your questions fairly short and I will seek to read them in their entirety as you pose it.