Not your typical Sunday morning sermon.

Last night before going to bed, my wife Tara was saying, "Be on the lookout for branches. I want to use a couple of 'trees' for our [front porch] Halloween display this year. You know, clean them off, paint them black, and put lights on them? Something like that at the store can cost $150!"

This morning when I awoke, I laughed as I looked out the window. A severe storm came through town late last night (causing the cancellation of the outdoor Garth Books concert downtown). Somewhat less tragically, it also knocked down a small section of one of the many large trees across the street from us, next to the creek.

I just now got back from snapping off a couple of semi-large branches for Tara. While I was at it, I moved it all out of the street. And I don't even have a chainsaw. 🙂

The moral of the story: You never know what nice surprise life might have in store for you.