Sunshine, cardinals, and coffee: not a bad way to start the day. --- And a happy Thursday morning to you. It is 52 degrees this morning and there is a bit of a stiff breeze blowing this morning which will make it feel a little cooler. I'd say there are about a dozen cardinals out there flitting about and they are beautiful as they sit down on a branch or the birdbath and the sunshine hits them just right. They are about the only thing of color left around here. The gold finches have already begun to lose their color and the other "winter-birds" like titmouse and nuthatch have returned. But they are shades of grey mostly. About the only thing left blooming back here are a couple of phlox and the geraniums that will soon have to be brought in for the winter. In the front of the house my colias is blooming nicely but we don't have any of that back here. There are a couple of random blooms on the knockout roses back here. I need to get after those roses and trim them back for the winter too.

The breeze this morning is helping me by blowing the dry leaves off of the gutters and it is also starting to make a noticeable difference in the amount of sunlight that is shining though the poplar trees back here. I'd guess that maybe 30% of the leaves are now off of my two big trees. Which of course means that I need to get out there and do some more raking and mulching.

Things are moving along according to plan with my retirement. The search committee has zeroed in on a candidate for my replacement. They will have hime come to the church next Wednesday evening and do a trial sermon for the two church councils and the search committee. Then if they like what they hear, they have asked me if they can have him do a trial sermon for the congregation on the 13th of November, which of course I said "yes". Then, immediately after the service, the congregations will then vote to accept him as their new pastor. The next step then is for me to get my few things out of the offices and he will start the 4th of December. I have only two sermons left to write. Everything else is taken care of unless we suddenly have a funeral to do and I hope that doesn't happen. It is going to be a bittersweet departure. Job wise, I'm ready to go. But it will be an emotional thing to leave the folks we have truly grown to love. But, life goes on and I can only give thanks to God that I have been allowed to fulfill my dream of being a pastor and preaching the Word for these past twelve and a half years. I thought being in the Air Force and having a beyond successful career there was wonderful and it was; however I realize that it was only a stepping stone that enabled me to do this career that has brought me more satisfaction than I thought possible. God is so very good.

There are things I need to do today and I'm not getting any closer to doing them by sitting here. I pray your Thursday is going to be the best one you ever had and that it will be the front door for a very happy Friday and weekend. Peace.