HEADBANGERS BALL

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 257

Oh goodness, I could’ve named this one the Friday Follies or the Friday Funk. Today has been so typical in my weekly routine… a yawner if there ever was one. Am I putting ya to sleep yet? I know, I’m just getting going. Here’s some more….

Look, if ROUTINE had to be redefined, all Webster would have to do is come to my home and film a typical Friday. I mean, for starters, I don’t set an alarm on Fridays, but at age 57, my body still wakes up when the darn thing would start chirping anyway. And then after all the unmentionable morning stuff, Arlo and Gus-Gus, get fed, then so do the hoomans (I make breakfast for Danielle and me every Friday), and then I start sermonizing until it's done.

Whoop! There it is! With a bit more whoop, whoop, our two canine comedians make sure I get up and stretch every now and then… usually with a game of ball, of course. It’s quite comedic. Truly. No… really, it is. Hahaha.

Seriously, amidst all today’s mundaneness, I do gotta say: God helped me bang out my Sunday sermon. Now, while that might not sound unusual—and it’s not—this week’s topic was kind of a headbanger’s ball.

Funny thing is, I chose the topic… kind of. Or did I? Hmmm. You tell me!

Oh, squirrel! Point of clarification: for all you of the 80s generation, noooo… this weekend’s message has absolutely nothing to do with hair-glamming, thrash-metal rock-n-roll, or MTV’s Friday night after-hours show featuring the same.

Oh goodness, could you imagine me with all that hair-metal hair… and the makeup and zebra pants? Friar Tuck meets Judas Priest (or Mötley Crüe). Oh goodness…. Happy Halloween, everyone. Time to scare the kids.

Again, back to all this serious stuff. I really struggled today with Sunday’s message. But here’s the goodness and my point of thankfulness: as I sat there trying to move beyond the obvious, I prayed aloud, “God, fill my mind, control my fingers, and help me write this thing. I gotta get it right.”

And that’s all it took. I cleared my head, shut the door (to avoid boxer interruptions), and went to town. Four hours later, with the Lord’s help, I was typing “Amen” to finish my manuscript while exhaling a sigh of relief. I hit Ctrl-S a few times on the keyboard to make sure my work was saved, copied and pasted it into Google Docs, then shut everything down. Sermon number who-knows-what is in the books.

Today, I’m very grateful for the Lord’s inspiration (as I always am). Yet admittedly, it’s not something I often think about. Perhaps I just take God’s daily giftings (another form of our daily bread) for granted. Not tonight. Thank you, Lord, for your help today preparing for Sunday.

Drop me a line: what kind of “headbanger” has God helped you with lately, where perhaps, like me, you said a little, “Thank you, Lord”?