Forty two seems to be the going rate for morning temperatures these days with the exception of last week’s cold snap. It is forty two again this morning and the sun is breaking through a quasi-cloudy day. The leaves are still, what is left of them and my chimes aren’t moving or ringing so I’d say it is calm. Looking around outside I see I need to go to the shed and start filling bird feeders again this morning and I also need to get the leaf blower out and blow off the sidewalks again and take the leaves out of the bird baths. But for the moment, I’m having my coffee and a bagel and enjoying this beautiful day God has given me. 

Welcome to Monday! Welcome to the start of another week. I wonder what the week will hold for us. Obligation wise I have a Pastor’s Circle meeting tomorrow and then Ms. Kate and I are meeting Bob and Brenda for mushrooms and beer at lunch time on Friday. Beyond that, my calendar looks clear, unless some kind of issue comes up at the church. I’m filling in for the pastor this week. I went to the funeral home yesterday to pay respects to a member of the church whose father passed away. I didn’t know the man and barely have met the member, but Pastor Art would have gone so I went. 

I started reading a new book last evening and made it through about the first two thirds before I had to put it down and go to bed. It is called; “Love, Skip, Jump; Start Living the Adventure of “Yes”. It is by a lady named Shalene Bryan and it is one of those books you would find on the bargain book table. I borrowed it from the lady who teaches our Sunday school class; I don’t know where she bought it. But has been marked down from its original price $4.00. My friends, if you can find a copy somewhere, buy it. It will be the bargain of a lifetime. Simple synopsis; it relates her adventures of saying “yes” to God and you can just feel the joy in her heart. I’m going to finish it today.

I think that is about for this morning. It is time to get my day rolling and be a bit productive before I sit back down in my recliner and finish reading my book. I hope your week has started off right. If it hasn’t, stop, take a deep breath, have a word with God, feel God strength as it lifts you up, and press on. The challenges will still be there but they go so much easier when you don’t try to face them alone. Shalomn.