Happy new week! It is a far cry from the sixty plus degrees weather I left you with on Saturday morrning. It is a cloudy, 44 degrees with a stiff wind that makes it feel like thirty five. But, it was supposed to rain here Saturday night and a good part of Sunday and we saw none of it; so that is just another blesssing floating our way. Our local forecast calls for a mixed bag of winter-like weather this week including some snow flurries. And just yesterday afternoon, Darrell, my next door neighbor to the south was out riding his John Deeere and mowing his yard. So, welcome to the southern Indiana variety pack of weather. I may still throw on a coat and go out and trim back the rose bushes today. It needs to be done before it get warm and they start to bud out.

How was your weekend? Ms. Kate and I picked out a church within our own denomination to attend yesterday. I've been in that church several times but never in the sanctuary. It was very nice. They have a good choir and a pipe organ that will fill the chancel with music all the way to heaven. The order of worship and liturgy was more like what we are used to as compared to the nondenominational church we attended last week. Next week we will try some place else. There is a church on almost every other corner in this area so finding one to attend isn't hard. But, we are like so many other people. People are cautious about "just walking in the door" when they don't know what to expect ot what the local rituals are. We actually do have a "home church" that we are members of but we haven't attended there for many years except for a funeral or two. They are currently without a permanent pastor too and we know that many things have changed in that church; things that we are not really comfortable with. We were gone for 30 plus years with the military and then I was the pastor of my two churches for another twelve and a half years, so ---- yes, things do change. But, maybe we'll give them a try too.

A few cardinals, a mockingbird , a couple of junkos, a wren, and a couple of fat squirrels are the guests at the backyard buffet this morning. The wind is kind of giving them a hard time. So they grab a seed or two and fly off, except of course for the squirrels. I think they could hold on in a tornado. Speaking of a tornado ---- I must lift up all of those families who have lost loved ones and homes and possessions in the weekend of tonadic outbreaks in the southern portions of the country. There have been several deaths involved so my prayers go out to those families.

Time to vacate the recliner and get something done. I hope you have a a wonderful week. I send along congratulations to my sister who is finally retiring this week from her job. I hope she enjoys the retired life.

God has given us a new week to make use of our blessings to the best of our ability. Take stock of those blessings and be grateful for them. Peace.