Instead of sleeping after putting in a shift at work I decided to stay up and enjoy the day. Since I was up already I went to early service at church. Dave Stone gave the message at service today. The message, one of the best that I've heard recentlly, was on the building of strong relationships, both with God and with other people. (You can listen to the sermon here. It will be moved to the archives after this week. (#2650))

The sermon is summed up in the rule that we all learned (I hope) in childhood, the golden rule.

1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. 7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:1-12)

After service I went for a nice long walk through Cherokee Park. It turned out to be the perfect morning to take a walk. With the temperatures in the mid to high sixties I walked through most of the park with my camera just taking photos here and there. I probably would have stayed longer if the battery in my digital camera hadn't been close to dying on me. The picture to the right is Baringer Hill. I have more pictures from my walk posted in my gallery. If you want to see them simply go here: http://www.shortdaddy.com/gallery/oct1903/. I managed to get one or two good pictures at most, IMO. If any photographers manage to visit this site, I'm always looking for opinions of what I shoot. I'm definately an amateur, but I hope to get to a level some day where I can hold my own with the professionals.

A lot of people were out in the park this morning, especially a lot of families. Over on Bonnycastle Hill it looked as if a small family reunion was gathering. A group of kids were gathering up leaves and then jumping in them. There were a large number of people just out walking or riding bikes as well.

I spent the afternoon at the apartment cooking on the grill and just generally relaxing. It's days like this one that I know life is definately worth living. As we get closer to winter we'll have fewer and fewer of these type of days. I plan to enjoy every single one of them while I still can.