Good things come to those who wait, or so it is said. Happy Wednesday morning. The sky is getting darker as much needed rain is heading this way. We've been twenty days without rain which is our longest period for several years. Of course, by California standards, they would scoff at it only having been twenty days. But it will break the string of 90 degree plus days that we have had and that will be good too.

I missed writing yesterday but for good reason. I was up early so I could get to the hospital to be with a parishioner who was having hip replacement surgery. I'm happy to report that her surgery went perfect and she reported on Facebook last evening that she was already feeling better. We pray her therapy goes well. Bless her heart, she has now had both knees and both hips replaced. And --- while I was there, I also went to visit a second parishioner that was only three floors up.

Great news on the house hunting front for Julie. The roof fiasco that caused them to lose the house last week has been settled; a new roof is going on the house and they will buy it and close in a couple of weeks. The entire family is doing "happy dances" for her and Jim. Jim is too tired to do a happy dance because he is doing the majority of the packing. But, by the end of September, they should own a home for the first time in their life. Many prayers have been answered. Thank you Lord God.

I did get up early enough yesterday to at least have one cup of coffee here in the sunporch. The joy of that was that I got to watch a couple of hummingbirds doing their aerial acrobatics. We've generally had only one hummingbird here for most of the summer, but yesterday we had two. As you know, they are terribly territorial and so the buzzing arounnd each other was amazing to watch. It was so synchronized and they got so close to each other and yet never actually touched one another. The Thunderbirds and Blue Angels could learn a thing or two from watching them. Finally one yielded and flew off and the other sat on the feeder and drank. I had to fill up the peanut feeders and the bark butter feeders this morning first thing. I also need to get to the store and pick up another 100# of sunflower seed.

Today is of course "bulletin day" and this evening, we start choir practice once again. It will be nice to be back with the choir. This evening we will need to decide whether or not we are going to do a Christmas Cantata. They are really a lot of work and when we do cantatas, we work on little else. So there is good and bad to that plan.

So I'm lifting up my family and friends who are ill this morning. I'm waiting on an answer from my sister as to how their weekend went and whether or not Byron got to come home for it. I'm lifting up prayers of joy for Julie and Jim and for my parishioners who have been and are still in the hospital but are doing well. God is a busy God. But isn't it extremely comforting to know God cares about each of us individually as though we were his only child. We, as humans, can never be grateful enough to compensate for that. Have a blessed day.