The Big 4-0-0

Wow, this thought seems like so long ago. But here we are reading the words to my 400th post.

Some of you will recall The Blog That Ties used to be part of Bandera’s website; it began sometime in 2005. I went back to find the very first post—no luck. It probably read something like this: Hi, this is my first post. I don’t know what I’m doing, but all the other cool pastors are doing this. No, I wouldn’t follow them off the cliff—maybe—but this looks like it may be fun, or worthwhile…whichever you prefer.

The oldest post I did find (from Bandera's website not on blogspot) was from September 2005.

September 13, 2005 11:37 AM

Well, we held our first session of Beginnings last night. This is a program I really enjoy and I think will benefit everyone who participates. So, I was glad to see everyone who came. Most of us knew each other. The food was great! We didn't have as many people show up as we were expecting, but those who attended seemed to enjoy it.

We talked about how in life sometimes we get to a point where we ask "is this all there is?" It’s comforting to hear others share their own experiences about those times in their lives. It lets me know we all really do struggle with those issues.
Sometimes we feel like we are the only person in the world who has ever gone through the situations we face. That, of course, is not true. It’s funny how our situations and circumstances may have changed over the centuries, but the attitudes and actions of people haven't. I imagine God gets a laugh every once in a while over the ways we can get so worked up about things.

I did enjoy reading the bumper stickers we made. We had to summarize our philosophy of life. Mine was, "It wasn't me!" We'll have to talk about that one later. Stay blessed...john

Now, if you were a part of this Beginnings group you WILL remember your vow of secrecy (our last session got a little out of hand). Look at these photos I found (if you recognize some of the people in the pictures you should pass this post on to them):





Thanks for reading. If it’s worth it, keep reading, sharing and getting others to do the same. Maybe we'll have a blog party at 500. Stay blessed…john