Cloudy, gloomy, sprinkling rain on and off pretty much describes this day for us. It certainly isn"t July weather. To top it off, the air isn't all that healthy because the jet stream is carrying smoke in the atmosphere from forest fires as far away as the northwest corner of the United States. Both the sun and the moon yesterday were partially obscured with a hazy film. 

It is a day of bad news and good news, depending upon one's point of view. Ms. Kate's aunt passed away two evenings ago. Today we will spend about eight hours at the funeral home for the visitation. Tomorrow we will have the funeral, which I will conduct. It is sad news because we will miss her but it is blessed news because she no longer has to exist as a stroke victim, unable to do much of anything beyond lay in her bed for the past eight months. God has now granted her the merciful death she has been praying for. For that, I give God praise.

It is also a sad day because we learned last night and early this morning that my brother-in-law is in critical shape with his cancer. The last we had heard, a couple of months ago, was that his numbers were slowly creeping up again but that he was being put on yet another medicine routine that would hopefully slow that down again. I now know that he had to go in for emergency surgery yesterday for the removal of all of his lower intestines and rectum and be attached to a coloscopy bag. His cancer is bad enough too that at the moment, they can not even close the wound due to threat of infection. So, our prayers are certainly engaged for God's will to be done and I would ask you to join with me in that prayer. If there is any good news out of this tragedy, it is that this was the catalyst to open communications between my sister and me once again. For reasons that will never be published, we have not spoken since my mother's death. But God can use the worst circumstances to accomplish what needs to be done and this morning she reached out, -- we had our "airing" on both sides, and life can now move on. The fabric is still torn wide open and may or may not eventually be sown back together again; but silent fuming only brings joy to the devil and heartburn and ulcers and heart attacks to the parties involved. Again, I give God praise.

Outside the sunporch today; --- I had three pilated woodpeckers at one time here to feed. The most I have ever had is two and that has been only once, I think. None of the feeder they eat from had food in them, so Ms. Kate and I went out and filled those feeders. The woodpeckers sat up in the tree and fussed and barked at us the whole time we were out there. One of them has come back, but I noticed that he didn't tell his buddies that the buffet was open again. 

I have a few things to get done this morning before we heaad to the funeral home so I reckon, I havewatched my birds long enough and  and now must move on to other things. Keep your prayer ooks open and your eyes upon the Lord. You never know when something might be reqquired of you or a speciaal blessing might come your way.