What a brilliant morning greets me this morning. The sun, -- still on the east side of the house' is breaking across the roof and beginning to illuminate the back yard, My "birds-of-color" such as the cardinal, and blue jays just seem to light up when they fly up out of the shadows and into the light. (Wow! That cued a good sermon thought; don't let me forget that one.)  It is currently 25 degrees outside which is a great improvement over yesterday since there is very little wind today.

I filled the bird feeders yesterday afternoon but haven't had a lot of business this morning yet.  But what I have had has been nice; a few cardinals, the blue jay, and a song sparrow that I hear singing beautifully but haven't seen yet. I'm up a little before they are today so I expect that the feeders will be full of guests before I finish my blog. And so far -- none of those bushy tailed rats have come around. There is a hawk circling overhead so that might account for the lack of smaller birds too. No body want to be breakfast.

Like millions of other people, I stayed up and watched the Power ball drawing last night and as usual, I didn't even come close. But --- three winning tickets have been drawn, --- so that ends the Power Ball craze for awhile anyway. Those three ticket holders will each receive around $500 million dollars before taxes are taken out. Good for them. Their lives will be changed forever and they are going to find out just how many people they are really related to!

There are a few things I'd like to do today but first and foremost I need to finish the sermon I'm working on. When I started it, it seemed I had a lot to say, but the reality is that I came to some roadblocks rather quickly. I keep running these thoughts in my mind but somehow they don't make it to paper. That happens a lot. I also want to take the car to the car-wash today and get the winter washed off of it. All of the road slush and dirt on it makes it a challenge to even touch without getting  dirt on my coat. It is supposed to go up to about fifty degrees today so the lines at the car wash will be long.

Choir practice went well last night. We've started on the Easter Cantata. There are eight songs in the program and we made it through five of them last night. It was a good first run through. I may have to write the narrative for this one too so I need to look closely at it. The cold weather kept some folks from showing up last night and I don't blame them.

I need to go pour another cup of coffee, then sit and just be grateful for that which God has given me. My back yard friends are slowly coming in and they remind me of the wondrous world God had provided. The sun reflecting off of this cardinal on the bird bath is just a flash of God's beauty. I hope you find flashes of God's beauty throughout your day too. Take time to be grateful for your life today. Peace.