And a blessed Wednesday afternoon to you. The office hours are done, lunch has been had and now I thought I’d try to throw in a short blog before we have to get built again. Tonight of course is the Lenten Wednesday meal and Bible Study. So that doesn’t leave a lot of time in between.

It is another rainy day and tomorrow will be about the same. We should pick up about an inch more on top of what we’ve had. It is really sloppy to try to walk around in the yard. I had to take some stuff out to the compost barrel awhile ago  and it was high stepping and watching where you walk out there. I don’t need to muddy up my “church shoes” or be bringing mud in the house.

I went to the Boeard of Christian Education meeting and was pleasantly surprised by their answers to my questions. I was concerned ton owif they have an actual plan for faith development or not. Well, they may not have a written plan. (Which would still be a good idea) it they seem to have a good handle on the teaching of our youth the fundamentals of Christianity. They are enthusiastic about it and that is key to a successful program.

I went to Wild Birds Unlimited yesterday afternoon and spent $115.00 on filling up my larder of bird food stuff. Unfortunately nothing was on sale either. But, I have enough to last for maybe three weeks now. I also refilled feeders and changed things around as to location. I like to keep it changing. I’ll really be glad when the ground finally fries out and I can clean up all of the residual seed and hulls that are on the ground out there. It kills the grass and obviously the dang mole like to dig under there and eat too. It really make for a mess. I keep my emptied sunflower sacks just for that purpose. I put all of the crud back in them and then put it in the garbage cans. I don’t want it in my compost piles.

That is about enough for today. I need to go downstairs and do some work in my office. I hope your personal day is going brighter than my weather. If not —- just say a prayer and let in a little “Son-shine”. Peace.

And God said, “Let there be light. And there was light”. And we call it a beautiful Tuesday morning. It is cool, (44 degrees) but there isn’t any wind so that will help. But, it is so nice to see the sunshine after the days of rain that we had.

I ventured out into the yard yesterday afternoon and filled some of the feeders; I think I told you that last evening. I still have some more to fill and unfortunately I have to go to Wild Birds and restock again. I’m out of several items again that they rely on. I especially need to get some bark butter bits and some more bark butter paste. I bought four tubs of it last time I was there and I opened up the last one yesterday. I’m out of thistle seed for the finches and I’m out of seed cakes and seed cylinders of my different varieties. This will be an expensive trip. I need to put out five of my suet cakes and that will just about deplete my supply of those. Luckily, they are a lot less expensive.

I noticed my new tulip bed is starting to sprout up. The first of the leaves are pushing through. If they all come up, I should have about sixty new trips blooming out front. The main flower bed I have here in the back yard is really looking good. The daffodils are coming up nicely. The tulips and the lilies are also doing well. The pussy willow tree is putting out lots of buds and should be in bloom soon. My buddy Bob called me last night and asked if I wanted some saw dust to put on my asparagus. I told him I’d pick some up from hm on Friday. I called sister-in-law Karen and asked her if she wanted me to get her some too and she said yes. I think Bod has it already on his truck but he keeps his truck in the garage so it won’t get wet when it starts raining tonight and tomorrow. The area is supposed to get yet another half to an inch and a half of rain between now and Thurday. All indications are that we are truly headed into spring.

Tonight is the Board of Christian Education meeting at church. It will be my first one and I am planning to be there and maybe get an idea what approach they are taking to their program. It all seems a little uncoordinated to me but maybe it is just what they want. I don’t want to try to fix something that isn’t broke but I also don’t want us to be “just doing something” and not expanding our Biblical knowledge. So, I’ll need to ask some questions.

It’s time for more coffee and I think I’ll get a Bob Evan’s breakfast bowl out of the freezer and have breakfast. Those thing are darn good. I wish for you a most glorious day. Peace

Happy fifty-second anniversary to Ms. Kate and me. It is hard to believe it has been fifty-two years since that beautiful young girl walked down the aisle of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, took my hand and  agreed before God’s altar to become my wife. We swore til death do us part, and that is exactly what we meant. Fortunately, she hasn’t decided to “death me” just yet. But wow; we have had some great adventures, traveled thousands of miles, raised a geat family, and as far as we know; —- there is no end in sight. I would be thrilled to be sitting here in ten years repeating this blog.

The flooding rains have stopped until some time tomorrow evening or so says the weather dude. I have not heard how much we actually got but suspect it was around seven inches. This has been the wettest February in recorded history for this area with nine and a half inches. The rivers have all swollen way beyond flood stage. Roads around the area are washed away. Fortunately for us, we had no severe weather but just 100 miles south they had several tornadoes. In the mean time, I have friends who were going through blizzard conditions up in the northwest part of the country. Weather is indeed a wild ride.

I have some happy cardinals and woodpeckers at the moment. I’ve waited most of the day to fill feeders just because the yard was too muddy to walk around in. But, I did go out and fill several of them and it only took moments for them to fly in. There were birds in the bushes as I filled them and they were putting the word out that the buffet has been restocked. I see at least six cardinals out there right now. They need to be discreet or the squirrels will find out and then they will have to fight for space.

I went for office hours this morning and then waas going to go do some visitation at one of the nursing homes but the receptionist told me that they were recommending that we didn’t do visitation because so many of the residents had the flu etc. So, I left my business card so my parishioner would know I had been there and cared about him.

After I got home from the office, Ms. Kate and I went out to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch as a celebration of our anniversary. I had a delicious prime rib sandwich and baked potato. The restaurant provided us a piece of “Turtle Pie” that was fabulous.

Time to watch the evening news. I hope your evening goes well and that you get a good nights rest  and wake up ready to greet God’s world tomorrow. Peace.

Rain, rain, and more rain. I thought maybe it hadn’t rained at all last night because I hadn’t heard it. But it was pouring when I got up at 0645 and has been raining on and off ever since. Thank goodness I have good sump pumps. They have been working steady all morning. The radar shows a bit of a lull coming but then by this afternoon the final push of this thing is supposed to come through with severe weather in tow. I pray for no tornadoes and that every one remains safe.

I’ve spent much of my morning so far “talking” to my girls via Facebook Messenger. As far as I’m concerned, Messenger is the best thing about social media. Our family has a chat group we call The Committee and we have conversation that runs several times a day and has for maybe three years now. All four girls, their husbands, Ms. Kate and I and oldest grandson, Josh, just chime in whenever we feel like it. It is the closest we can come to all being together since we are physically spread coast to coast.

I saw a mouse in my garage last night. That is only the second mouse I have seen in the sixteen years we have lived here. I had mouse traps years ago but I have no idea where they might be, So, I’m heading to the hardware store today to get some poison bait. The rain probably drove this little guy in but he is uninvited. We had a mouse problem years ago when we lived in Collinsville, IL. We had had a wet spring and they moved in out of the woods. I thought we would never quit killing mice. So, I don’t want to let them get a stronghold in there. It’s bad enough that we have moles, voles, and squirrels; I don’t need another rodent variety.

I have a couple of frustrated squirrels out there at the buffet. One keeps trying to get into a particular feeder and can’t figure out haw to get the lid off of it. Well, the lid is tight for one thing, but it is also sitting on the lid so that doesn’t help its cause. The other squirrel keeps coming over to the 20 gallon garbage can that I have full od sunflower seed. It keeps trying to figure out how to get in there. I find it a little difficult to get the lid off of that can so I know it will never get in there; but it is entertains to watch. Squirrel number one is now hanging from a limb by his toenails trying to grab the wire handle of the feeder and pull it up and over the hook it is on. They are smart critters.

Tomorrow is Sunday and it is my week to give the sermon. I’m well ready for it and in fact, I finished my sermon for the 11th of March now too. Next I need to start working on my Palm Sunday abdEaster Sunday messages. Once Holy Week is over, life will smooth out until Christmas.

That’s about it for today and for this week. Hopefully next week will be drier and sunnier. I pray your weekend will be blessed and full of happiness. Peace.

It is almost 2:00 pm and I’m just getting around to the blog. We’ve had a busy morning. Ms. Kate had a doctor’s appointment this morning so that took up a fair amount of our time. Then we went by the cemetery to check on flowers . Most of them were gone. I don’t know if people took them or the wind blew them away. Unfortunately I think they were taken. Kate’s family’s plot are right by the main entrance road and we have lost a lot of flowers and tomb sone decorations over the years. How pathetic is that? What kid of low-life steals flowers off of someone’s grave to put on their loved ones grave? We’ve had news stories over the years about people that go and steal little plush animals off of the graves of children. That would take some sorry kind of individual to do that.

After we went to the cemetery we went out to St. Joe Inn for our monthly “Schrooms & beer” with Brenda and Bob. It was great to sit and visit with them. Brenda and her husband Andy have been busy with the farm. They have been having theft problems of a serious nature. Someone has been stealing their hogs. A month ago, someone butchered one of their hogs right their in the hog pen during the night. They had killed it, gutted it and left all of the entrails their in the pen and carried off the carcass. Then a couple of weeks later, some one got in there and stole one. Sunday, someone stole ten of their market ready hogs. They live out where few people come buy and the hog pen is maybe a quarter mile from their house so they don’t hear the ruckus. I advised them to ring that hog lot with trail cameras so they can catch the sorry so and so’s. That is a good $2000.00 worth of live stock tha they have lost.

Our rain has been on and off still. It finally quit about 0600 this morning or was at least down to a light rain. But we are expecting it to pick up again this afternoon and then rain most of the night. Tomorrow we are now under and “enhanced” chance for severe weather. I’ll be glad when this storm system is over. I think we will have picked up about five inches of rain by Sunday morning. The flooding has started and there are many roads closed due to the flooding. Unfortunately there are always idiots that are just sure they can make it through and they end up having to be recused or sometimes they end up drowning. Too many people just think the rules don’t apply to them.

I have several empty bird feeders now but I’m not going to do anything with them until the rain and weather stuff is all over. Lord knows there is enoughseed on the ground to feed the birds and squirrels for a month.

That’s it for today. If you are in the path of the weather that we are having; keep your eye on the weather and your severe storm plan in your mind. Be safe. Peace.

Cloudy and grey, forty three degrees. But not raining —- at the moment. It has rained most of the night though and the ground is soaked. It is supposed to rain yet more tonight and on through Saturday into Sunday morning. I haven’t seen the critters lining up two by two just yet, but then we’re on the high ground. Around the area, communities are already having to close roads due to flooding. By Sunday morning we could have another three plus inches of rain. Yesterday I unplugged and cleaned the electric bird bath for the next couple of seasons. I’m pretty sure our hard freezing days are over until December. After I cleaned the bird bath, I just left it empty because I figured we’d get enough rain to fill it up. Sure enough, it is full to the brim this morning with fresh clean rain water.

Congratulations to our oldest daughter, Julie, and her husband Jim as they celebrate their thirty second wedding anniversary today. That hardly seems possible and yet they have a thirty year old son so I guess it is true. On Monday, Ms. Kate and I will celebrate our fifty second wedding anniversary. God has been exceptionally good to all of us.

Last night we had our church Lenten meal and Bible study. Instead of Bible study, our couple finished up their presentation on their trip to the Holy Land. They had some very interesting slides and their trip gave them some very interesting and often times humbling experiences. I remember my tour of duty to the middle of the country of Turkey. The land was basically bare  of population, itwas short grass covered , and rocky and hilly. There were often shepherds out with their sheep just they had been doing for millennia. The Apostle Paul had walked that land two thousand years ago  and it was easy to imagine either the Roman Empire armies or the Ottoman Empire Armies marching over the hills on conquest. Frankly, life in that region of Turkey had not changed much since then. The homes were still made of mud brick. Fruits still lay on flat roof tops to dry, Wool rugs were stil being loomed by hand and laid out on the parched dirt to season. It was a good tour of duty.

Most of my bird feeders are still over half full which is a good thing. I do have to fill the thistle seed feeder for the finches today. But, I’m not having an abundance of birds with this weather the way it is. This morning I’ve had a few cardinals and goldfinches but that is about it. But, — it is still early. I was up at 0615 today so everything is early today.

Ms. Kate plans to make one of my favorite desserts today that isn’t an apple pie. It is a pudding dessert we call Lemon Lush. She made the chocolate version to take to the chuch dinner last might and they ate very bit of it.

Time to refill the coffee cup. I pray your day will be filled with love and joy. Share your blessings. God didn’t send them to you to hoard. Peace.

Light showers fall gently on the roof of the sunporch. My backyard buffet guests are all starlings and one squirrel at the moment. That’s fine, I’m sure the rest of the gusts have been here and had their fill for the time being anyway.

It is 1300 hrs and I got home from the church for our Wednesday morning staff meeting, and we had lunch. I’ve said it before but it still feels a bit strange having office hours and a staff to coordinate with. It’s just the three of us, Pastor Art, Karen the secretary and me, but I haven’t done any “staff coordination” since 2001 when I was the Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff for the Joint Task For Civil Support at Ft. Monroe, VA. That was an every morning event and it was burdensome to the rest of the staff and me. But, the Commander was an Army Major General and that was the way he wanted it, —- so, I made it happen.

Despite the rain showers, I put a couple of strip streaks on the grill for lunch while Ms. Kate boiled up some potatoes. It made for an excellent lunch. Tonight we will be having supper at the church. During Lent we have a Lenten meal and Bible study on Wednesday nights. Each group or Sunday school class takes a Wednesday and sponsors it for the main entree’ and then all other comers bring either a dessert or salad or veggie as needed. Tonight we rate having fried chicken. Ms. Kate and I are assigned to bring a dessert so she is making what we call Chocolate Lush. A lot of people make it and call it by different names. The program for tonight is being done by the folks that gave the Holy Land presentation Sunday. This will be the conclusion to their briefing.

I told you yesterday that I was going to maybe clean up the back yard from all of the twigs and branches etc that has fallen over the winter. I was hoping that at some point I would get an inspiration  for a sermon that I was trying to work on. Well, I got the yard looking great —- but was still without an idea. However, —- last evening it hit me and I started writing. But —- one of the great things that happened was that I posted something about this on my FB page and I got several ideas from people based upon my cleaning the yard. What’s neat about that is that it shows that as Christians, we really can be a Community of Believers, regardless of our specific denomination. God is indeed still speaking.

I would ask today that you pray for our nation and its leadership. Some of you did and some of you did not vcote for President Trump; but, —-regardless, he needs our prayers as do all of our leaders. And I would also pray that we may become better citizens and learn to work together.

Have a blessed day. Peace.

Good morning! It is a warm, (67 degrees) partially cloudy morning. I filled all of my feeders last evening and yet, my only guests so far this morning has been one squirrel and a mockingbird that flew by, grabbed a beak full of bark butter  and left. But — I think things will pick up shortly. The cardinals are starting to fly in and when they do, others will come. It is interesting that when it is really cold, I’ll get a lot of junkos here but if it is a warm day, I don’t see them. I wonder why that is.

This beautiful weather this morning is unfortunately the precursor to some bad weather which is expected as winter begins to wane and spring begins to rise. I just had an accuweather alert about strong winds and gusts this afternoon which is going to usher in a lot of rain. We are expecting several inches between now and Sunday morning. That isn’t a good thing. The rivers are already high and most of them will be well over their banks by next week. It is just as well that it is too early for the farmers to be planting yet. The fields are all muddy and the flooding would have ruined what they would have planted. But, I have friends that are chomping at the bit to get out and plant gardens. I would love to til mine but it is just too muddy. On the other hand, if it rains enough,maybe it will drown this stinking mole that is working my back yard to death.

I’m trying to put together my sermon for the 11th of March and I just seem to be running around in circles with it. I spent much of my time at the office yesterday reading and getting ideas, and making notes. But when I got home and tried putting some of it together, it just fell flat. But, it is early yet and the words will come eventually. It should be easy because my central theme is based upon John 3:16 but finding something fresh to say about a scripture that everyone has heard a hundred sermons on can actually be daunting. Maybe today I’ll go out and pick up limbs and sticks and branches out of my yard and breathe in some spring air. That might open the brain cells up with some sort of inspiration.

It is time for a second cup of coffee and I think I will pull a Bob Evans breakfast bowl out of the freezer to go with it. I really like those and they aren’t that expensive. While I do that, How about you stop and take time to look around and count your blessings. You’ll be surprised at what you find that God has already provided for you today. Peace.

Monday morning and a whole brand new week ahead of us. What shall we make of it? Should we just stay in and wait for the multi-inches of rain to arrive or shall we venture out and be bold? I think today is a holiday of some sort. It is President's Day which is a holiday that is mentioned but I don't know how well it is observed. I know I'm working and the secretary is working. The school bus ran this morning so possibly the only people not working are the US Government employees. I reckon the only thing that will impact for me is that the mail won't be picked up today and I put a card in the mail this morning.

It is warm already this morning. It was sixty-two when I got up this morning. It is supposed to go up to seventy today and maybe seventy-three tomorrow. That only means one thing; --- rain and possibly severe storms for this time of year. So far the storms are not in the forecast; but this is Southern Indiana and who knows what will really happen. After all weathermen are in sales, not production. That's the same thing I tell parishioners when they ask me to pray for rain or pray for sunshine.

We had a good Sunday. Yesterday a couple of our parishioners gave a presentation during the service on their trip to the Holy Land. It was very interesting and having never been there it was enlightening as to how close things were that we read about in our Bible. For instance,  he had a picture of where they say Jesus was crucified and then a picture of where Jesus was allegedly put in the tomb. I had always assumed the two places were separated by some great distance, But --- according to their briefing and pictures, the actual distance was no more than three hundred yards. I found that fascinating. I also found it interesting and perhaps a bit disturbing that these sites were so lavishly ornate. All of the gold and glitter was overwhelming. I understand the thought process that says "but this is the home of God etc, etc." But, I can't for a moment accept the fact that Jesus would have wanted any of this. It certainly doesn't represent his teachings. But, people need what people need and people interpret things differently than I do. I love to see beautiful chapels and churches and all of that as much as anybody does and I feel humbled when I am there. The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel are marvelous and you can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit; but --- a gold altar will not put you any closer to God. Abraham stacked rocks on top of one another as an altar on which to sacrifice his son Issac. Moses and the people of God built a rock altar everywhere they went and they worshiped God. Jesus was buried in a hallowed out rock but it couldn't hold him. So gold plating it will not make it any more Holy. Okay, enough of my rant about things that I can't change and may even have the wrong perspective on.

My backyard guests are cleaning out all of the feeders again today and that means that I have a job to do this afternoon. I need to get everything filled up again because once it start pouring down rain --- I'm not going out there.

Got to go to work and earn my dollar. I hope your day is full of goodness and love. Peace.

Saturday morning and it is a snowy Saturday morning at that. I was just sitting here minding my own business, watching my critters at the buffet and now —- wham!! Now there is a half an inch of snow on the ground. The guests at the buffet are acting like people buying milk and bread before a blizzard.  And, —- it is supposed to start raining by noon and will wash it all away. How weird is that? I think God put somebody new on weather control this morning; probably some weatherman that got to heaven and wanted to create instead of report. God has a sense of humor ya’know.

Ms. Kate and I went on a day-date yesterday. We finally had time to go have our Valentine’s Day dinner so at lunch time we went to Outback Steak House for lunch. It was a delicious meal of steak and lobster. Then we simply went back home. We had not had time on Valentine’s Day because of me  working and then we had the Ash Wednesday service that evening. So yesterday was special.

I finished writing my Tenebrae drama last night and also created the worship service to go with it. I need to check the lighting system at church and see if they have dimmer switches installed on them. It isn’t critical but would help create the dramatic effect that I’m wanting. The next hurdle will be finding twelve men to read the parts of the disciples. I can use women —- but again, the dramatic effect will be less. I’ll let you know at the end of March how it went.

Tomorrow I wil attend the installation of Reverend Dave Marshall to be the called pastor for the two churches in Ft. Branch that I served for twelve and a half years. I’m glad for Dave and I’m glad for the two churches. Dave is a month older than I am and was just ordained a few months ago. Like me, it was a long time dream to answer that call. He retired from the USAF several years ago and is now starting on an entire new adventure. I offer prayers for a successful pastoral relationship between the churches and him.

The snow has slowed down and I’m not sure it doesn’t have a little rain mixed in with it now. The starlings are flocking in by yet dozens to get food at the feeders and on the ground. They look like looters in a riot. Any time there is snow on the ground —- here they come.

That’s about it for today. Ms. Kate is fixing me a pan of her special biscuits just because I asked and she is a sweetheart. Have a pleasant day and don’t forget about chuch tomorrow. Peace.

Good morning once again on a rainy, forty-three degree morning. My AccuWeather app tells me that it will rain for another hour and a half. It isn’t a torrential rain so that isn’t all bad. In fact the robins are running around in the yard snatching up worms as they come up to the surface. One squirrel has ventured out already to eat. Maybe it is just now getting home from a late night at the squirrel bar or something. A couple of the cardinals are also out as are the goldfinches. So, I don’t have an abundance of guests at the buffet just yet. I suspect when the rain stops, the buffet will become busier.  The feeders are still about 95% full so I don’t need to go refill anything this morning.

The school bus just went by picking up all of the kids. The Friday garbage collection trucks are also out and about in the neighborhood. It isn’t exactly quiet around here just yet with the clanging of the garbage truck and the squeal of their brakes. But, within a half an hour all of that will have ceased and then all I will have is the gentle steady patter of rain on the roof and the occasional song from one of my buffet guests. I have a bluebird resting on the curve of the downspout tucked up under the eave staying out of the rain. Between it and the cardinal pair, my morning has been started properly.

Last night I did some more work on my Tenebrae drama that I’m writing. I think I only have three more characters to write for. I think I may have told you that the drama is words from the disciples of Jesus and their thoughts concerning their desertion of Jesus in his hour of need when the soldiers and religious leaders came to arrest him. It is all conjecture of course since none of them actually wrote what they thought; but I’m trying to imagine what might have gone through their minds about the fact they had all run off into the woods and escaped capture, leaving Jesus to face it alone. he hardest part is that we know so very little about the majority of the disciples. The Gospels tell us only bits and pieces of what life may have been like traveling around with Jesus. Jesus spent three years teaching and preaching and yet in reality what is written in the Gospel cover so little of that time. I don’t accept the fact that every important thing Jesus ever said has been captured by the Gospel writers. In the United Church of Christ we say “God Is Still Speaking”. Perhaps some day more scrolls will be unearthed somewhere with more of what Jesus actually said. Of course then the question would be “do we believe it or not?”

Well that was a rabbit trail for you to try to follow today. It’s a rainy day —- you have time. In the mean while, I’ll wish you a day of peace and happiness. Shalomn

Good morning on this 15th day of February. It is also the 45th day of the year and we have had yet another mass shooting in this country, again at a school. My heart breaks for the grieving loved ones of the seventeen people (last I heard) who were gunned down “by an angry person”. The thoughts race through my mind as I read comments about the shooting and instead of a nation joining together in pain — people want to get into political debates about it and they spew more hate. The most ironic thing, and “truth-telling thing” in my opinion was as I was scrolling down through Facebook, I was reading a long post about the shooting and the next post was advertising a video game glorifying being a sniper and blowing people’s heads off from the roof tops. Is it any wonder that people with certain mind sets and conditions become totally unsensitized to taking a gun and shooting as many people as possible?  Congress and our national leadership will once again wring their hands and shake their heads while they take their money from the NRA and the anti-gun lobbyists and then they will do nothing as they always do. Much attention will be given to the “motive” behind the shooting, his loss of his mother recently, the mental health care state in the nation, and blah, blah, blah, and nothing will have been accomplished. I know I tend to be cynical sometimes but I think the gun control question in this country is no different than treating cancer. There is no money if you actually find a cure. There is only money in drawn out research.

On the much happier note this morning; it is a beautiful February morning here in southern Indiana. I have unhappy squirrels and less than happy birds because the feeders for the most part have been emptied. It has been raining over the night so the ground is rather sloppy, but I reckon I better go out and fill feeders. We are supposed to be getting more rain today and for several days on and off. But, while it is over sixty degrees this morning, it will be fine to go out and take care of my guests. Weather dude is talking “rain/snow” mix by the weekend. Hello February.

We had a well attended Ash Wednesday service last evening. I was glad to see that. Now we have officially started the Lenten season and we’ll be having extra services and extra events at the church for the next forty plus days. The forty days of Lent do not include the Sundays. I’m looking forward to it all. It is so good to back serving as a pastor again.

With that, I need to refill the coffee cup and move on to something different. My prayer today is that your day will bring you peace and love. Take care of yourself and others. Share your love and blessings with someone. Have a great day.

Good morning and a blessed Valentine Day to you. And I should also wish you a blessed Ash Wednesday and Holy Spirit filled Lenten season which begins today.

Today starts off as one of my favorite kind of mornings; it is foggy with waves of spring-like showers passing through. It is forty-four degrees already this morning so ye it is a spring-like day. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer, up into the low seventies and then the bottom will drop out again with a cold front coming through. Tis the weather roller coaster season. But — the cold weather hasn’t been as severe in the past few days as it was earlier, so I reckon we are on the way to spring after all. I could chance it and take off my snow blade but I’d probably be inviting a snow storm.

This going back to work is interfering with my blogging. I’m a morning writer and having to get ready for work and go to work and attend morning meetings causes me to miss days like I did yesterday. Yes, —- I could get up earlier on the days I go to the office but nah, I don’t think so. I just need to change my morning writing habits somewhat and do it in the afternoon. I could of course write my blog in the evening but that is when I work on sermons and things like that. Right now I’m busy writing a Tenebrae drama for Maundy Thursday service. I’m not quite half done with it. I’m trying to express some of what I think the disciples of Jesus felt after they deserted him when Jesus was betrayed. I’ve written several plays over the years and they have all turned out well. I wrote one that the church presented some forty years ago and they still talk about it. It was very dramatic and seems to have had a great affect on the players.

Tonight will be the Ash Wednesday service. I’m giving the sermon and we will be doing an imposition of ashes and holy communion as part of the service. In the past, I have always had my confirmands conduct this service, but we don’t have any confirmands this year at Zoar; so, Art and I will do the service. This coming Sunday we will have a special presentation by two of our parishioners during the worship service. They will be showing slides and talking about their trip to the Holy Land. I’m sure it will be fascinating.

Time for me to put up the IPad and get ready to go to the office. Today we only go for an hour just top coordinate schedules and things. The happy news is that I’ll be driving right by the new Dunkin Donuts that is supposed to open today. A detour is in order unless the cars are lined up too far. I hope your day is fully blessed. Peace.

It is a beautiful Monday morning. However it is colder than a streaker in Montana. The trees are still ice covered from the freezing rain we had on Saturday night. It does make a beautiful sight because the sun makes it look like the trees are covered with diamonds. As always, I find beauty and pleasure and visions of God's blessings most anywhere I look.

Yesterday I saw a picture on Facebook of a little cute rodent of some kind with the biggest grin on its face and it was holding a blossom. The caption read "Only six Mondays until Spring." It was one of those make you smile and feel good pictures. Facebook has an awful lot of trash on it but every once in a while somebody posts something worth actually reading and sharing.

We had a good Sunday although Ms. Kate didn't make it to church. We had no idea whether or not there would be black ice on the roads and the sidewalks so I recommended that she not get out since she has already fallen on black ice once this year. As it turned out, I was worried about nothing. The roads were clear and the parking lot was too. But, no use taking a chance.

The blue birds are here again this morning and they have been all weekend. They just brighten up my day especially when there are cardinals and gold finches to go along with them. Actually, there are very few of my birds that I am not particularly fond of. As you know, the starlings are not high on my list but only because they are such bullies and nasty birds. All of their fighting and pecking at one another and at other birds kind of drives me crazy. With spring out there in the not to distant future, I'm waiting on the robins to arrive again. And I'm still waiting on the first of the crocus to pop up;  assuming that the moles have not eaten the bulbs.

I hate to make this short but I have office hours this morning and have to get ready and go to work. That still sounds like a strange thing for me to be saying. Have a most pleasant day; enjoy the sunshine and bathe yourself in God's grace and love. Peace.

I’m up before most of my bark yard buffet guests this morning. I have maybe four pair of cardinals hat the feeders but that is it so far. It is a dark and dank morning outside. No sun is going to be peaking through that layer of clouds anytime soon. The down side to the clouds is that it prevents the sun from glistening off of the beautiful plumage of the cardinals. So even they look a little dull this morning. But they are singing so that will brighten the morning.

The last of the ice from the other day has finally melted from the trees and from my ramp and step up into my yard barn. I could finally get in there. Unfortunately, we are anticipating more freezing rain again tonight and in to morning. I pray it won’t develope. We don’t need slick roads for people to try to drive to church in the morning.

Since I could finally get into my yard barn, I went to Pet Food Center and bought 120 pounds of sunflower seed for my birds. I also stopped by Rural King and picked up a twenty gallon galvanized can to put up here on the patio and have filled it with sunflower seed. This way when it gets icy and snow covered out side, I don’t have to go to the yard barn. The feeders are all freshly filled and ready for business this morning. I still need to go to Wild Birds and Things to restock my specialty bird foods.

I told you that I have already had a terrible problem with moles this year. Obviously I am not the only one as other people are complaining about them too. I went to the local nursery and asked if they had a product to help with this and they sold me a product called “Mole-Go”. It is a liquid that you attach to your hose and spray on the areas where the moles are running ridges. So I hooked up the hose yesterday and sprayed down all of the areas where we have had them. I asked if it was effective to use it this time of year and they said if the moles are moving, I can use it. So, I guess we wwill see if it is any good or not. I’ll let you know. I don’t know if it kills them or just sends them to the neighbor’s house.

Tomorrow is Sunday and a day to go and gather with fellow Christinas and share in worship. Today is the Sabbath for my Jewish friends. Regardless of your faith, I hope you will take time out and spend some time giving thanks to the creator and God of all there is. Do something nice for someone this weekend. Share a smile and share God’s love and blessings. It will brighten your day and theirs. Peace.

It is a brighter day out side this morning. The sun is shining in a cloudless sky, but the temperature is still only twenty-two degrees. My squirrels are all very unhappy because I can not get into the shed yet to fill the sunflower seed feeders. The aluminum ramp and the step are still covered with ice and I’m not going to risk it. Hopefully it will all melt away today. But until then, they will have to remember that they are wild squirrels and forage elsewhere. I did get out and fill the bark butter paste feeders and the thistle seed feeder for the finches. I also put out another four suet cakes. So, there is plenary of food out there for the birds. However, I need to go to the Pet Food Center and to Wild Bird’s and Things to restock the larder again. I can easily use 80# of sunflower seed and several of my specialty foods. Time to hold up another bank so the birds can eat. LOL I’m thinking I may pick up another aluminum trash can and keep it up here by the sun porch filled with sunflower seed. Rural King has them for about ten dollars. It is pretty sheltered up here and that way when the snow and ice do come, I don’t have to fool with the shed and the ramp etc.

Even though it is an inconvenience, God’s beauty still shines through with the ice glistening on the branches and the trees. I’m a firm believer that God’s blessings are wherever you look for them. All it takes is looking for the positive side of things instead of the grumpy side of things. For instance, I have a feeder for my finches that has a nice plastic cover over it. On a normal warm day it is no big deal, On a rainy day, it keeps the seed dry. But right now it is still ice covered with little icicles hanging down from it. I have four or five finches feeding from it and it looks like people riding a Ferris wheel. It’s quite cute. Like I said, the blessings are where ever you look for them.

I think I may run by the office in a few minutes. There may be something that Art and I need to collaborate on before Sunday. Then while I’m out, I can run by the Pet Food Center and Rural King. I have a squirrel that just when to great lengths to line the pole where I normally hang that feeder tha they tore up and there is nothing there. It is looking around  quite confused. So, I better go take care of them in one way or another.

Have a great day and make the most out of it. Take some time and do something for someone today. It will make your day even brighter. God loves you, and so do I.  Peace.

The world is covered with a thin coating of ice this morning. It certainly isn’t enough to be called an ice storm but the roads are slick, the schools are cancelled, and I’m not going to venture out. I’ve already taken a fall on the snow and ice this winter and was extremely fortunate not to hurt myself. But there is no snow out there to cushion a fall now.

So what to do with an unexpected day free from obligations. I’ll just do some writing today and help Ms. Kate with the laundry; not much different than if I had actually gone in to the office because we were only gong to be in the office for an hour or so anyway. We use Wednesday as a day to coordinate schedules with he secretary. But, I do need to do some writing today. I’ve been working on a sermon for the 25th of February and have it about three fourths complete. But, I’m really not happy with it and last night it hit me to take it in a different direction. So, before I lose the train of thought, I need to put it on paper. It is always hard to highlight a large section of a writing and hit “delete” but if it doesn’t make sense to me, it won’t make sense to anyone else.

I have a lot of activity at the buffet this morning. The blue birds are back; I have several cardinals, junkos are everywhere, Goldfinches , wrens, woodpeckers, mockingbirds, and of course starlings by the dozen flock in and out. The electric bird bath is a popular spot too. I’ve had one or two squirrels here today but not many. All in all I’d say I have maybe fifty birds out here to watch. That’s a pretty special thing and a great blessing.

I guess that is about all I have for thoughts this morning. I’m out of witty thoughts or sound advice, or even sage wisdom. I forgot to pick up any of those things while Ms. Kate and I were out shopping yesterday. This morning, I’m just kind of like the weather, dull and sleepy. Sitting here watching all of my critters in the peace and quiet just seems to be enough. I read a good devotional this morning from my friend Pastor Mike Saxton on Facebook. He is the pastor of a non-denominational churrch down in Florida. I wwas his commanding officer many years ago in another life for both of us.

So, I hope you have a safe and warm day. Peace.

Another cold cloudy morning greets me as I come out to the sun porch. But the buffet is busy this morning and that is always a good thing. My main guests are starlings and finches with maybe four or five cardinals, a few goldfinches and junkos thrown in the mix. I haven’t seen my bluebirds in the past few days so I suppose they have moved on.  I never got around to filling the feeders yesterday and I see that “the favorite” feeders are empty but there is still a lot of food out there. The squirrrels have managed to take apart one of my more substantial feeders. It has a heavy metal screen in the bottom of it so that any water can get through.They have somehow figured out how to move that screening so that the bottom now allows all of the seed to just fall out. I will put a screw through that meshing and tighten it down. I sometimes think it is a battle of wits between me and the squirrelass and the squirrels are winning.

We are supposed to be getting freezing rain tonight along with maybe some snow. It isn’t supposed to be a lot but enough to mess up the morning commute. Hopefully it won’t amount to too much. We have Bible study in the morning and tomorrow is an office day. I know everybody will be glad to see spring get here. I have daily reminders that spring really isn’t that far off. My daffodils continue to push up through the ground and I can see the tiniest of beginnings of buds on the pussy willow tree outside the sun porch. Today the cardinals were actually gathering nesting material. I don’t know where they build their nests but the thought is exciting.

God’s creation just continues on and on without any help from us or maybe it would be more correct to say; “in spite of us”. Humans do enough damage the world God has created and we really need to get ahold of that concept and do something to turn our destructive ways around. Politicians can deny the existence of Global Warming all they want to. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening because it might be expensive or inconvenient to them. I once read a number of how many animals, insects, birds, and plants go extinct every year because of the way we treat our environment. I don’t recall the number but it was staggering. What we seem to forget is that God put every living thing on this world for a reason and a purpose. Every time we destroy something, we are literally changing the ability for  the world to function as God designed it. We don’t have the right to do that. If God wants the world changed, God will change it through the process of natural selection. I pray God won’t decide that we are no longer required to make His world function properly. Something to think about today. Peace.

And a glorious morning to you on this 5th day of February. It is sunny but colder than a polar bear's rump. The birds have fluffed themselves up and the squirrels looked all puffed up too. It is 18 degrees with a windchill that walks right through you. I have to go to the office today and do three hours of office duty. I think I'll take my Surface Pro and a flash drive and work on my sermon for the 25th of February. I have it started but have reached a point that seems to be a dead end road. That happens sometimes and then I need to back up and re-look at the directions that I thought I was starting from.

We had a relatively quiet Sunday. Of course we started the day at church and it was my first Sunday as co-pastor of Zoar church and I delivered the sermon. I think it went over well and they didn't decide to fire me even though I went long. I was thinking one day that I wonder what would happen if I got up to give a sermon and all I said was; "God said to be good!", and then sat back down. If nothing else, it would be memorable. After church we went to New Harmony, IN for a very nice lunch at The Red Geranium Restaurant. It is a nice place and the menu is a little "foo-foo" and sometimes pricey, but it was a nice quiet meal and we enjoyed it.

Yesterday was also Super Bowl Sunday for football fans across the nation. I am not a sports watcher and haven't watched a football game all year. Part of that was out of protest because of the players refusing to stand for the National Anthem. I know Julie and Jim were in full Patriots gear for the game and I understand that since they lived in the Boston area for over two decades. So, while I didn't watch the game, I was hoping their team would win. But --- twas not to be. The Philadelphia Eagles won their first ever Super Bowl so I feel good for their fans; except for the ones that had to celebrate by rioting and destroying public and private property. I've never understood the concept of expressing one's joy through destructive actions. I mean, who thinks like that??? My take on the whole thing is, regardless of who won the Super Bowl, the world is no better or worse off than it was before the game was played. I understand the hype over the game and it is a national thing, but on the other hand, I don't understand people paying thousands of dollars to go sit in a crowded stadium to watch a game that they could watch on television.

I need to refill the bird feeders again today sometime. I guess I'll wait until I get home from work. Maybe it will be a bit warmer. I think we are supposed to go up to around thirty degrees today. The Accuweather app is warning that we may be having an ice storm tomorrow night into Wednesday morning. Of course the reports all all over the place at this point. But if it goes as predicted we could get a couple inches of snow and maybe a quarter of an inch of ice. The snow I don't mind, the ice --- I'm not a fan. But, I'll for sure put down some ice melt ahead of time and hope we don't need it.

That's it for today my friends. I need to get ready to go to work. (What a strange concept that still seems.) I pray you will have a blessed day and feel your life filled with the love of God. Peace.

It is another cloudy, dull morning out in the back yard this morning. Patches of snow remains over maybe 50% of the yard. The rest of the yard is brown and “dirty” from all of the sunflower seed hulls tha are on the ground. But, there is obviously a lot of good seed down there too because the little birds rummage through it constantly eating leftovers.

Speaking of leftovers, Ms. Kate and I debated going out for dinner again last night but we decided that we would rather stay home and heat up the left over veggie soup she had made the day before. Ms. Kate is the soup queen in my life. Her mother used to make some marvelous veggie soup too, but I think Ms. Kate has surpassed her mom. She also makes some marvelous cream types of soup; asparagus, mushroom, chowder, potato, you name it, she can make it and it is always delicious. She has been known to have soup parties and has made several kinds of soup for those. They have always gone over extremely well. And when she makes a pot of soup, she make a large pot of it, so we sometimes share it with the neighbors.

We went to the movie matinee yesterday and saw “Hostiles”. I had been waiting for it to come out but we held off until the crowds weren’t a factor to share the flu. We even took Clorox wipes with us and wiped down the arms of our seats. But the theater only had four other couple attending the movie and we all set far apart so it worked out well. Hostiles is a good movie. It was much “slower” than I expected it to be but it developed a very good story. It is about a battle hardened cavalry captain who was given the task of escorting a Native American chief and his family, who are prisoners of the US government, to Montana. The chief is dying of cancer and has asked to be able to go there to die. The captain hates all Indians but as his last duty before retirement, has been ordered to do this task. The question looms as to who are the real Hostiles.

Yesterday was Groundhog Day and the rodent allegedly saw his shadow. That is supposed to indicate that we will not be having an early spring. In reality of course it means nothing. But it gives people something to talk about. What I know is that my daffodils are up about an inch now and as I look at the pussy willow tree outside my sunporch, I can see the first hints of budding pussy willow blossoms starting to come out. So I say, the heck with that stupid rodent; I’ll signs of God’s promise that slowly but surely, this winter shall pass and once again spring will be in full bloom.

With that, it is time stop and read my morning devotional and express my gratitude for yet another day upon this earth. How about you joining me?  Peace.

That beautiful clear blue sunny sky out there certainly disguises the fact that it is seventeen degrees with a “real feel” of five. My backyard buffet guests though don’t seem to mind it too much. They are busy flying in and out stocking up on energy to keep them warm. I put some bread out there yesterday morning for them but them we got about a half an inch of snow that kind of covered it up. But they have discovered it this morning, mostly the starlings are eating it. The small birds wait until the starlings leave and then they swoop down and clean up the crumbs that the starlings make and leave. I’ve had a wren or two and some sparrows hopping around the bread grabbing bites. I guess the squirrels are sleeping in this morning because I haven’t a seen any yet. That is great because theCardinals are at the feeders without interruption for a change. They sure look beautiful with the sun shining on them.

Our snowfall was what I call a convenient snow. It stuck to the trees and grass and roofs but not to the streets and driveways or walks. It was a wet snow too so it made for some very pretty scenery. By now, it is already gone from the trees. We are maybe going to get some more again tomorrow night and into Sunday. I really hope it holds off on Sunday. That is Super Bowl Sunday which means that there will be a lot of people out there driving to parties etc and they will be drinking and that is not a good combination with snow or icy roads. Speaking of Super Bowl, I haven’t watched a single football game this year but the Patriots are playing again in the game so maybe I’ll watch some of it. Julie and Jim are die-hard Patriots fans so itt will be incredibly noisy over at their house. When they come here and there is a Pats game on, Ms. Kate tells Jim he has to go to the basement if he wants to watch the game because he gets so loud. LOL. I have to laugh at the die-hard fans and their emotions during the game. One would think they personally own the team or something.

Happy Friday to you! You’ve almost made it through another work week. I hope it has been an excellent week for you. My new position officially started yesterday although I went in for office hours early in the week. This Sunday I give my first sermon as the co-pastor of the church as opposed to being a “guest pastor”. I’m excited and feeling blessed.

I think Ms. Kate and I are going to goto the 1245 matinee today to see “Hostiles”. She is feeling much better from the whatever crud she had and I think the theater should be relatively empty so not too many people sitting there with the flu. Maybe we’ll take along some alcohol wipes to wipe down the arms of the seats so we’ll pick up a few less germs.

Today is Groundhog Day. I haven’t heard whether the groundhog saw his shadow or not. It’s important because whether a rodent sees its shadow is critical to whether we will have an early spring or not. What a silly tradition that is.

My coffee cup is empty and I must refill it and get on with other things. Have a wonderful Friday. Have a talk with your Creator and Savior. It will brighten your tire weekend. Peace.

Good morning! Welcome to a brand new day, produced by, directed by, and brought to you by God! How neat is that. You and I were allowed yet another day to be alive on this earth and now we have to decide what to do with it. I don’t know about you. But I’m dstarting my brand new day off with another one of God’s most wonderful creations, —- coffee. After I finish writing my blog I will play a couple of my computer games that I play every day, — Criminal Case, (two versions) and Bingo. Then perhaps I will be ready to get up and get busy. In the meanwhile, I’m also enjoying my birds and other critters out there at the buffet. For the most part I have had an empty yard this morning with the exception of the long-haired black and white cat that wanders through. But all it did was look around for a bit, poop in my flowerbed, and leave. (Thanks for the fertilizer dude!) Now, I have one squirrel out there and a couple of cardinals have flown through but that is about it. It is a windy day but forty-seven degrees. I filled all of the feeders last evening so I don’t know why my guests have not arrived as of yet. But —- they will; they always do. Perhaps the cat is sitting where I can’t see it but they can. This cat chases squirrels right up the tree.

Yesterday I had a good meeting with pastor Art and Karen, our secretary. I think we got most of the month’s events lined up and on the calendar. February and March are busy months. The Lenten season begins on February 14th and that brings extra events like Lenten meals and a Bible study every Wednesday evening. I’ll be preaching the Ash Wednesday service and we will do the Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion. Art has also started a Wednesday morning Bible study, and the local church association will be having Saturday morning Lenten breakfasts. Our church will host one of those. So, the next seven to ten weeks are going to be busy, especially for a couple old guys like Art and me who have come out of retirement and are supposed to be working only part time. The silly thing is —- we create most of our own extra work. He has started this new Bible study and I have begun writing a Tenebrae Service for Maundy Thursday service. Loving what you do can be exhausting.

This coming Sunday we are bringing two new members to the congregation. That will make five new members in the last six weeks or so. What a joy. The attendance is up. Every Sunday in January we had a higher attendance than we did a year ago. God is blessing our congregation.

My buffet guests are finally arriving in full force. I have lots of cardinals and goldfinches at the moment as well as junkos, sparrows, and a couple of mockingbirds. I think it is time to sit and sip my coffee and just enjoy the blessings God has sent my way. May your day be filled with God’s grace. Shalomn.