I'm a bit bleary eyed this morning for some reason. I can't seem to wake myself up. Maybe my cup of coffee or three will do the trick.

We had a good weekend. The church services were well attended. We had good company with my sister and brother-in-law coming down. They brought down a load of stuff for the auctioneer because they are dowsizing their home. Our local auctioneer has done a good job for them in the past so they are using him again. I can't imagine going through that process. Unless it becomes totally necessary, our girls are stuck with getting rid of all of our stuff after we either die or get so senile that they decide to "put us in a home" somewhere.

God is shaking the dandruff out of the trees this morning. There is a wind blowing and the petals from the Tulip Poplar blossoms are raining down. I need to get my ladder out and get on the roof and blow out the crevices and the gutters. Between the Maple tree helicopters and now these petals, it doesn't take long to cover the gutters over. I have a gutter guard system up there so it is only a matter of walking the roof line with my leaf blower. It takes me longer to get my ladder out than it does to do the job.

The iris are really blooming right now as are the peonies and the rhodadendrums. All of the colors blended together can only be God's work. Sometimes I see beds of flowers and blooming trees and it just takes my breath away. It becomes a picture of nature's perfection. How absolutely blessed we are to be able to see things like that and have the ability to enjoy it. Think about that for a moment. Out of all of God's living creatures, we are the only one that can comprehend what beauty actually means and is. We are the only one of God's creation that derives pleasure simply by looking at our surroundings. If that thought doesn't make you feel special in God's sight, I don't know what would.

My prayers today are again prayers of gratitude. Both of our people at church that had recent knee replacements were in church yesterday and seemed to be getting along very well. So, I'm thankful that God continues to give them the strength to do their therapy and I'm thankful for those who have participated in their surgeries. I'm thankful that my brother-in-law is feeling as well as he does despite his cancer, and I'm thankful for the better than expected doctor's report for the mother of one of my parishioners. God is so very good.

I hope your day is as blessed as mine already has been.