Wow!! It's "cows and flat rocks" out there this morning. The temperature is 54* but has a real feel of 46*. So, I give thanks first thing this morning for a warm dry home and I pray for any one who may not have that luxury. May God protect them somehow. Our rain is going to continue on and off through about noon tomorrow. As I look out there, I am so glad that I have all of the fall leaves gone from my yard.

I never got out to fill the feeders yesterday because of rain. There are still still a couple feeders with a little bit of food in them and that will have to do. The radar shows that we should have a couple of hours break from the rain around 0900 so I'll throw on my boots and fill some of them. We were sittting here in the sunporch yesterday afternoon around 1600 (nap time) and it was raining and the yard and bushes were full of cardinals. I once read that if a cardinal visits your yard it is a greeting from a loved one in heaven. Isn't that a lovely thought?  I think everybody I've ever known must have been in the yard yesterday if that is true.

With the rain and weather like it is, today is going to be a writing day. I'm doing pretty well at getting all of my upcoming sevices planned and extra liturgy written; but I need to start working on sermons and sermon ideas. One would think that with it being the Advent season and the approach of Christmas that it would be easy to put together a sermons for this season. Maybe for some people that is true; but not for me. If you think about it --- we base this entire season on a single story told three different ways in three of the Gospels and not mentioned at all in the fourth Gospel. So, making it new and relevant and exciting requires thought and a lot of prayer.

Next week is Thanksgiving week and that will be a bit different this year. We've lost loved ones this year and that fact alone will change the family dynamics. My mothers passed as did my brother-in-law. That means that we won't need to try to figure out what we are gong to do get my mother out here for Thanksgiving Day, nor will my sister come down for a visit. It will be her first holiday with out Byron and I suspect she and her family will be making their way through the emotions of that. I offer up prayers of support and love as they go through their week. We have decided to get away for the week and have rented a cabin on the Ohio River about an hout away for the entire week. Julie and  her pup will join us and Jim will come over Wednesday after work and stay through Thanksgiving.  We are all going to just use the week to chill out, read, visit, drink pots of coffee, and if the weather is nice, sit out on the porch and stare at the river traffic and sunsets.

The rain is a bit lighter now so I guess I'll throw on my boots and rain coat and go fill the feeders. The squirrels are going nuts out there repeatedly going to empty feeders. and trying to eat what food there is from feeders that are made to keep them out. Have a blessed day.