He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

 Every year I struggle with October and Halloween.  I love October.  I do not love Halloween.  I do not love the spiritual battle of dealing with zombies and ghosts and witches and devils that is elevated to an idea of fun and whimsy for this holiday.  I do not love the stress of finding constumes the kids are excited about and happy with.....nor do I wish to spend money on an outfit they will wear for less than 4 hours of their life.  I do not look forward to the battle over the candy and how much they can have each day....and then the trips to the dentist to get cavities filled for the next year.  Even with insurance, the dental bill is scarier than Halloween in our family.   But October. Warm afternoons, cool evenings, dark and quiet mornings.....the colors of fall absolutely burst wide open in Iowa in the fall....and this year has been exceptionally beautiful and it lingered on through the entire month.....every day was more amazing and breath-taking....every sunset over the harves

 I've been a witness to an incredible love story unfolding.  The story involves a little boy who is trapped in an impossible and tragic problem.  As the problem is revealed, everything gets pretty intense and complicated....and the plot thickens....there is tension with the characters and the cliff-hangers are intense.  I've been holding my breath for weeks and weeks, hanging on the edge of this cliff.   In this story, some of the characters practice a religion....and so they summon their prayer warriors to pray.  They storm the gates of Heaven and they slay the demons of hell in prayer....and they worship....and they sing.  Oh, do they sing.  The songs are praises to their God who can do all things through Christ who gives them strenth...and they press on...and their God moves.   As the pages of the story turn, new characters are introduced and there is a sneaky twist in the plot.  There is only a little bit of deception....or ommission....but the secrecy is powerful and fragr