4-day weekend!?

I didn't realize it until Thursday when I was leaving work at noon, but I was scheduled to have Friday and Saturday off, in addition to my regular Sunday-Monday off. I knew I had Friday off, but was counting on Saturday as well. So I just enjoyed a 4-day weekend. Every four weeks we get a 4-day weekend, with our new schedule. Which is pretty nifty.

I watched a couple movies, hung out with friends, played Settlers of Catan online, played some Madden football, volunteered on Saturday and cleaned some.

Yesterday, our flag football team captain, who plays on two teams, played for his other team rather than his own team. He usually plays quarterback, so in his week away I stepped in. I was a little nervous, because when I practiced as QB a month ago, the next day my arm was really sore. I have no such soreness today, thankfully. I threw 6 touchdown passes as we rolled to a 52-20 victory, our best win of the season. We did play the worst team in the league, and they never rushed in to try to sack me. So I had all the time I wanted to find open receivers. Looks like we'll finish tied for 2nd heading into the playoffs in a few weeks.

But the highlights of my weekend came at church yesterday. First, the topics at both Sunday school and the service were great. We discussed priorities and core values in Sunday school, and pastor Mark spoke about Amy Carmichael and her 51 years of serving God. This coming weekend is our missions' conference. That should be uplifting as well. I want to spend more time in prayer this week as I prepare myself for the weekend. There is a need for Christians everywhere in the world, and for home missionaries spreading the Gospel right where we live. I know my priorities are often wrong, but it is something I have been working hard at this past year.

The other highlight from church yesterday was last night's leadership meeting for our sunday school class. I help plan social events, and last week we came up with the next few months' activities. One of the highlights is a Give Thanks banquet the weekend before Thanksgiving. We are going to bring one 'rock' each and build an altar to God, with each of us praising him for things and depositing our rock to build the altar. And we will spend the night in song and praise. And food. And fellowship.

But the direction of the class is great, and its such a solid group of young Christians. It's such a blessing to have so many Christians my age. Our class has grown from 45 to 65 at our weekly meetings on Sundays, and its not just numbers that are growing. I know we are growing closer to God together, and our focus is to bring more lost souls to Him.

I'm excited for the upcoming months. The fall and early winter season typically is my favorite time of the year, anyway.