Greetings brethren, just a quick reminder that we will have a potluck in all three congregations tomorrow.  For those in Columbia, it is our 2nd Annual End-of-Summer Taco Fiesta!  Please feel free to bring a side dish or dessert, but please, nothing that will need to be heated.  For those in Charlotte and Hickory (where I will be tomorrow), please feel free to bring something tasty!

Fall Holy Days

Do you realize the fall Holy Days are only about a month away? The Feast of Trumpets is on October 3rd and the Day of Atonement is 5 weeks from tomorrow!

Of course, we call them the 'fall' Holy Days here as we are in the Northern Hemisphere.  Also, since they were primarily celebrated in and around Jerusalem (which is also in the Norther Hemisphere), they are still commonly referred to as the fall Holy Days among the Jews today.

Things to do

While we often think of preparing ourselves for the Passover in the spring, it's always a good idea to prepare for whatever Holy Day is upcoming. Obviously there's spiritual preparation to do, but in the case of the Feast of Tabernacles, there's usually quite a bit of physical prep to do as well.

There's reservations to be made, flights to be booked, vacation time to be submitted (don't forget to ask for Holy Day excuse forms!), arrangements to be made for pets, homework assignments for the kids, mail to be stopped, bill payments to be arranged, an oil change for the car, a new outfit or two and don't forget snacks for the trip there.  That's just all the stuff to do before you leave!  Perhaps you volunteered to serve at the Feast and have duties to prepare for.  Or maybe there are old friends you want to meet up with for dinner. That requires a little preparation too.

If you didn't feel like you were behind in getting ready, I bet you do now!

Getting Prepared

These are just the physical things to think about.  As mentioned, there's spiritual preparation to do as well. To that end, tomorrow we'll be reviewing the upcoming Holy Days and their meanings.

As the Feast approaches, let's make sure we are preparing to get the absolute most out of it.  One important way we can do that is through the Daily Bible Reading program of the Book of Deuteronomy (link here).

A little preparation will go a long way toward making sure you have the best Feast ever!