Welcome to a brand new week. Just think of all of the opportunities, known and unknown, that lie ahead of you this week. Have you checked your calendar yet? Are there little windows of time that maybe you could call an old friend you haven’t seen for awhile and just say “hi”? Do you have a day that maybe you could just spend in reflection or reading a book or maybe even baking some cookies or an apple pie? Life goes on and on and so often we forget to step off of the treadmill and just sit down and rest. That’s part of the reason I love to sit out here in the sunporch every morning and just enjoy the peace and quiet that I find out here. All my critters fly in and I love sitting and watching them and their antics. (Okay, do you now have a mental image of Snow White with a bluebird sitting on her finger?)

It is a cloudy day and we have already reached our temperature high for the day of 55 degrees. There is a breeze too and that will bring the comfort level down. We expect to have showers on and off fo the rest of the day. A cold front has settled in and we are looking at only one day this week where the temperature might go to the upper sixties or maybe even seventy. But, it is late fall after all. Before you know it we’ll be in November.

I’ve only had one or two birds here today; I guess they are out in the fields or eating seed from other plants. Either way, the buffet stands empty this morning. I do have a couple of chickadees out there and I had a woodpecker here for a few minutes.

I did finish up putting the broadcast spreader together and used it Saturday afternoon on the front yard. I plan to use it today on the back yard and finish up spending the fertilizer/winterizer on the lawn. It really works well and I’m glad I bought it, despite how much time I had to take to assemble it.

We had another good church service yesterday. Pastor Art gives a great sermon and he does it with such ease. But then, he has been doing it for several decades. He always stands out between the pulpit and the lectern (Baptist Seminary training) and it looks like he is giving his sermon off the cuff. I’ve never been able to do that. I’ve been one of those guys that stands behind the pulpit and reads from my written sermon. Both methods work, but his style just looks so much more at ease. I wish I could learn to do that.

Tomorrow I have to spend the day in my “Boundary Training”. You know, I could teach that class in about ten minutes max. But we pastors will spend seven hours learning AGAIN how to keep appropriate relationships and keep our hands and other body parts off of members of the congregation  and the staff. We’ll be told again about proper use of social media etc., etc., etc. It is a “CYB” class required by the denomination so that if a pastor does get in trouble, they can’t say they weren’t trained better. So, if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, you know where I’ll be.

I pray your day will go well and I pray your week will be filled with God’s glory and blessings. If you are facing challenges this week, remember where to turn. Challenges go so much better when you have peace of mind. Shalomn