Those Giant Balloons!

Will you see them floating by on Thursday? For the last 81 years, Thanksgiving has been marked by a parade in New York City sponsored by Macy's Department Store. Its origin was a marketing strategy to kick off the Christmas shopping season and draw attention to the "world's largest department store." For me, the biggest attraction is the giant balloons. But did you notice every balloon is restrained by handlers tightly holding on to a line to keep the thing from floating away? The simple physics is that helium is lighter than air and if left to themselves all giant balloons will float away.

The simple truth about humans is that left to themselves they will drift away into all manner of harmful things. Isaiah expressed it this way, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way;" (Isa 53:6). What we need is a number of lines to hold us firmly within the realm of safety, both spiritually and physically. This is exactly what we find in a local church: a family of believers encouraging each other, caring for each other and praying for each other. All serving to keep us anchored to our Lord.

Thank you for your part in helping the family remain strong, and let me encourage you to involve yourself fully in ministry here, in so doing you will find yourself held securely in a place of safety and blessing.

Jesse Waggoner