Slava Bogu!!

After my rant "a la Nihongono" I thought it would be a nice change to do a more upbeat "anti-rant" "a la Russki" this time.

Unbeknownst to me, last week my Pastor (knowing my difficulty in preaching) called our future assistant Pastor and asked him to come preach last Sunday -- which he did -- both morning and evening services. They were good messages; I enjoyed them both immensely. My vociferous concerns, while perhaps not baseless, were proven unnecessary. Of course, I wasn't immediately informed of the assistance I was about to receive, but one "bonus" was the 2 partial sermon preps I was left with -- one of which I used earlier this evening (Wednesday, 28 Nov), and the other is waiting for this coming Sunday night's message.

When I was finally notified he would be filling in form me (Saturday -- the day before) the phrase that immediately came to mind was Russian: "Slava Bogu!!" which means, "Praise God!!" or "Praise the Lord!!" At the time, my brother-in-law was visiting for Thanksgiving break (from BJU). I was able to enjoy most of our last full day with him.

Another "Slava Bogu!!" was this evening's message went well. Everyone seemed to like my, "Don't try to be a 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Sheep' and stand against the 'roaring lion' without the Good Shepherd" illustration.

Oh yeah, lest I forget, there's one last "Slava Bogu!!" I should announce: There's a new "Little Varmint" that should be added to our family sometime around the middle of next July. We've told most of the in-laws & out-laws, and the rest of the family isn't online -- so it shouldn't matter that I've spilled the beans here... who reads this anyway? Not any "family" I know of... unless you count spiritual family... "saved" friends... that have nothing better to do. =)

PS -- We're "high risk" for a "multiple" birth, so our "Slava Bogu!!" could be a "double" double-edged sword. Pray for my wife... she doesn't get "morning sickness," instead, she gets "all afternoon and most of the evening sickness."