As I posted on Facebook this morning, I looked out the front door this morning and saw something I haven’t seen for over a week; dry pavement. It is amazing how significant the insignificant can become isn’t it? It is a cloudy forty three degrees this morning but at least it isn’t raining. Sadly though, this is only a brief respite between fronts and we can expect showers again on and off and maybe, —- can you believe it —- snow showers on Easter Sunday. Winter ran forty five days late in starting and it appears it will run forty five days late in ending. We are looking at maybe four days of rain again next week and that is the beginning of our “spring severe weather” season. Yay!!!!

It is Good Friday for those of of the Christian Faith. For many it will mean another church service tonight. It will for us to be sure. PastorArt has tonight’s service though. For restaurant owners it means selling a lot of fish sandwiches today. I’ve never looked into the meaning of having fish on Good Friday but it is something that I’ve always been acquainted with. I think it is a Catholic practice that has carried over in to the Protestant world. I need to Google that. I just know it is something that we have done because we weren’t supposed to eat meat on Good Friday. It is another one of those religious things that you will not find in the Bible. I get amused sometimes at the things we do for religious reasons that are not biblically supported. As far back as I can remember, even in elementary school, they served fish on Friday or a toasted cheese sandwich and tomato soup. BTW, a lasted cheese sanwich with a bowl of tomato soup is a childhood favorite. It is one of the few meals that my mother made that I actually liked.

I did the 11:00 pm shift at the church last night for the prayer vigil. I got home around 12:15 am and as I walked by the sun porch I thought I saw something outside the window. I flipped on the light and there was Rocky Raccoon having a midnight snack at the backyard buffet. I invited him to leave and told him we were closed for the night. He went lumbering off across the yard, stopping every twenty feet or so to see if I was still watching.

This afternoon I’m taking communion to a parishioner who can’t make it to church this Easter. Bless her heart, she’s probably 90 and has come down with shingles. She has been out of church for several weeks and I know she misses it terribly. She is one of those who simply never misses except for something like this. She was one of my Sunday school teachers when I was growing up and so was her husband. He passed away some years ago.

The sun is shining brightly now and I’m going to just sit here and enjoy it and give thanks for it. I hope you have a blessed day and a blessed Easter. Peace.

I thought for a moment this morning that the rain had stopped. I was concerned that the arc was going to hit dry-dock. But noooooo! The rain is back and promises to be here in an on and off fashion through tonight.

Maundy Thursday; it is a Holy day and the designated day of The Last Supper which is also the beginning of the holy sacrament we Christians call Communion. We shall participate in Holy Communion tonight as part of our Maundy Thursday service. Then at 9:00 pm we’ll begin an all night prayer vigil at the church with people swapping out every half an hour until 9:00 am tomorrow. I’m signed up for the 11:00 pm watch. Our denomination, the United Church of Christ, doesn’t practice a lot of ritual but Easter is extremely significant in our faith. It is the very basis for our belief in an eternal after-life. The style of worship for our denomination runs from the very traditional, which I like, to the very contemporary, which I can tolerate a little bit of but am not crazy about. The argument of course is do you do what is popular and showy because you think it might attract a younger crowd or do you stand by the roots of your church and traditions that have worked for decades. There are valid arguments either way.

I met last night with our “role players” for the Tenebrae service tonight. We got everybody a costume and went over the roles and duties. It didn’t take long and it went very well. I hope that at service time it isn’t pouring down rain. I expect we will have fifty or so at the service. I’d hate to see it pour down at service time and people decide not to get out. We’ve already decided to move our Sunrise service indoors because of rain and soggy ground.

I have three squirrels out here this morning grabbing breakfast. There have been a few birds of differing varieties but it has been rather sporadic. There have been a couple of cardinals, fiches and starlings and that is about it except for the robin that is loving floating earthworms.

My coffee cup is empty so I guess I better fill it and maybe fix a pan of cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Have a wonderful day. Be thankful for your blessings and share them with others. Peace.

This waking up early and being comfortable with it is getting annoying. I think I have forgotten that I’m supposed to be retired or at least semi-so. There is no where I have to be until 10:00 am but at 06:30 I was wide awake. The problem is that I hate to hear the sound of an alarm clock and I almost always will wake up well before it is to go off. I guess it is an internal alarm thing.

Again this morning I’m listening to the pitter patter of raindrops on my roof. It is a light rain for the moment but will send heavy rain in a few waves throughout the day. But this is a gentle rain that will either make you drift off to sleep or —- make you have to go to the bathroom; drip, drip, drip. My guests don’t seem to mind it at all out in the back yard buffet. They are just satisfied that the buffet has been refilled. Finches, cardinals, wrens, starlings, doves, and woodpeckers fill the aviary list and of course life would not be complete without a squirrel or two. I noticed that the Goldfinches have completely turned to their summer bright yellow now. They make a beautiful contrast to the otherwise gray morning. The trees are starting to show more and more signs of leafing out and the Bradford Pear trees around the neighborhood are all starting to bloom.

I’m asking for prayers for my son-in-law, Jim, (Julie’s husband). He was taken to the emergency room yesterday with chest pains and numbness in his left arm. They ran a lot of tests and everything seemed to be okay but he is supposed to make an appointment for some follow-up testing to see if he maybe has some arterial blockage. It isn’t surprising that he would have a problem. He is a total carnivore and wouldn’t let a salad cross his lips.  The cardiologist is supposed to call the ER and set up an appointment for some tests.

Tonight we have Tenebrae practice and then tomorow is Maundy Thursday. Hopefully the service will go well and be the with experience I want it to be for everyone. But we are going to be spending a lot of time at the church for the five days. Or maybe it would be more correct to sat we are going to be doing a lot of running back and forth to the church.

One assumes certain things about people and one of my assumptions is that the people that read my blog are of the Christian faith. If you are, I celebrate your belief with you and pray for your continued  faith journey. If you are not a professed Christian, then it is my prayer that you will develope a relationship with the Lord God who is responsible for your very existence on this planet. I also pray that you will take that relationship one step further and accept Jesus Christ as the way to salvation and eternal life. Take a chance! Read the New Testament. Study what it means to have a life based upon the teachings of Jesus and open yourself up to the peace that being a Christian can bring. The wonderful thing is —- you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing so. So, that is my Easter prayer for anyone who may be struggling with life.

Have a blessed week.

Happy Tuesday my Friends. I’m not quite sure where Monday went but it was over before I knew it. Actually I wrote about three lines yesterday and then was interrupted and never got back to writing. The interruption though was well worth it; a parishioner came in and needed to talk. Those are good moments and part of why I do this job. I’m not a trained counselor but I am a trained listener and usually that is all people really want in the first place.

It is a fairly warm but totally cloudy morning. We’re in the middle of one of our “spring events” which means rain and more rain. There is no use whining about it; it happens every year and every year we get to the point of wishing it would stop. It is warm enough to make us anxious to get outside and wet enough to keep us from it. I need to get out there and rake up all of the sunflower residue tha the guests have dropped on the ground all winter. Every time I go out to do anything, I’m tracking that stuff back in the house. Julie and Jim will probably come over this eweekend and I know their dogs are going to track a bunch of it in too. It can’t be helped.

The bird feeders are not just empty they are EMPTY!!!! Before the rain starts today, I have to get out there and fill at least some of them. Th eup side of it though is that the birds are eating off of the ground and cleaning up some of their own mess. But the neighbor’s black cat was through here this morning and was a bit more interested in my guests than I wanted it to be. Once it hit the crouch and stalking position outside my door, I run it off. But, I have a bluejay out there doing it’s “whining” call as I refer to it. It sounds so pathetic sitting there on an empty feeder telling the world what a poor host I am. LOL

I took home communion to a couple yesterday and hope to do so again tomorrow for another lady. People seem to be grateful that I do that. Many don’t drive anymore and can’t get out. Our church people though are very good at not forgetting our shut-ins. It is a wonderful ministry tha they perform by going by  or calling our shut-ins. When I visit nursing homes, it is so sad to see folks that are so obviously never visited.

Going to stop here and put my garden shoes on and go feed my birds before it rains. I pray you will have a blessed day. This is Christian Holy Week. I urge you to stay in contact with the Lord. Peace.

Good morning on this “cows and flat rocks” rainy morning. It has been raining fairly steady for the past twelve hours and is expected to go at least until noon steady today. We had a clean-up day planned for the out door chapel today to try to get it ready for next week’s Easter Sunrise Service. However with rain in the forecast for four days next week, I suspect the chapel will be entirely too soggy by next Saturday to even walk in it let alone clean it up. But, who knows —- perhaps the forecast is wrong and we could get a few days of sunshine and warm breezes and that would really help dry it out.

Needless to say, it is a dark morning. I could almost use a light turned on out here in the sun porch. But the light ebbs and flows as the intensity of the rain gets heavier or lighter. I just have to watch what I type and go back and make corrections to spelling more often, One would think that I’d be able to type in the dark as much as I use this IPad keyboard; but that is not the case. I am and will always be a “hunt and peck” kind of guy. Many years ago when the first Battlestar Gallactica was on they showed Loren Greene dictating to a screen and the words writing themselves across the screen. I thought that would be the coolest thing. I suspect that technology exists today —— but I don’t have it.

Despite the rain and the darkened skies, the beauty of the back yard this morning is the daffodils blooming out there in the flowerbed. They are all in bloom this morning and are holding their heads up. That is my extra helping of blessing this morning. And while I don’t have many guests at the backyard buffet this morning, I do have a couple of cute wrens, some gold finches, a cardinal or two and I hear a song sparrow somewhere out there singing a “good morning” to the rest of the world. God is so  good. As the scripture says; This is a day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I’m going to dodge raindrops this morning and go get a haircut. My hair is just a little long ion the back and it hangs on or over my collar. It drives me a little nuts. I’ve been retired from the Air Force for seventeen years now and I still need my hair to be within regulation. Old habits are hard to break. Except for singing shoes; —- I seldom shine my shoes any more. But then, the military hasn’t worn boots that need to be shined for years. I remember “the old days” when we would spend hours shining our boots just to have the polish melt off of them in the hot sun. The change came with desert warfare.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. I hope to see you in some church. Peace

It’s Friday morning and a relatively warm one at that by comparison to what we have been having. The clouds are thick though. I woke up around 0330 for a necessary trip and it was sprinkling rain. Our weather dudes are forecasting about an inch and a half of rain between now and Sunday morning. We don’t need it. I wish it would dry out but that doesn’t appear to be on the agenda any time soon as they are saying we’ll be having rain most of next week. At least it isn’t snow. North of us in Indianapolis they are looking at more snow this weekend and the east coast is looking at a fourth storm in three weeks. So, I’ll count my blessings and quit complaining —- for a minute or two.   I was still thinking about pulling the snow blade off of the JD but —- well I think it looks good where it is for now. LOL

I have the house to myself. Ms. Kate and her sister are off for a couple of days and nights doing sister stuff. So, the normal peace and quiet around here is even more pregnant. Ms. Kate and I are usually home together but we are on different parts of the house doing our own thing and not a lot of  noise happens around here. I miss the ”sound of her breathing” if that makes any sense and I miss knowing that she’s just bback in the office making cards or something. But I’m the one who encouraged them to go and get out of a winter house where it seems we’ve all been hunkered down for too long. So, I’m here in the sun porch doing my thing and have my Bose playing playing some good Gaither gospel music at a volume that I like.

I finished up my Easter Morning sermon last night and put together the bulletin for that service including the slides to go with it. I’ve sent them on to Karen at the church. I need to go to Target or Office Depot and get a couple of reams of paper so I can print my stuff. I’m going to check on a new printer too. I get so aggravated at my printer which isn’t that old. It tends to grab several pieces of paper at a time when printing and thereby spreading the print over the tops of several pages. It is a problem inherent with this model; because the on-line reviews show a lot of complaints about it and there is no fix.  I think if I get another one I am going to get a laser printer instead of ink jet. Since I’m going to look at printers, I guess I’ll go to Offfice depot.

I think we are having a squirrel reunion here at the buffet this morning. There must be at least ten oif them running around here this morning. Mostly they just chase one another around and then come and go thought the neaighbors yards and trees. Maybe they have spring fever too. The rest of my regular customers are here too so it is a morning of blessings just watching them all. I suspect by tomorrow I will have feeders to fill again.

Sunday begins Holy Week and I pray you will take the opportunity to participate in that at whatever your choice of churrch is. We are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal salvation and life. Take the time to give God praise and worship for those gifts. Peace.

It isn’t often that the “real feel” temperature out side is higher than the actual temperature. But this morning is is a bright and sunny,  thirtytwo degrees with a “real feel” of forty degrees. That’s because we have zero wind this morning. It is a lovely morning. My only buffet guest at the moment is a squirrel who can’t quite figure out how to hang on to the feeder and eat from it at the same time. Meanwhile, on the ground there are a couple of robins, a wren, and some junkos. It won’t be long before the starlings, cardinals, and the rest of the gang will be here.

I just had a “news blurb” pop on to my screen that said the world’s largest collection of ocean garbage is twice the size of the state of Texas. If I may be blunt for a moment, that pisses me off! I know there are a lot of people that care about the environement and work to help improve it not only in this country but in other countries too. But —- there are millions and millions of people who care nothing about more than the square foot of soil they are standing on. And that too goes for every country and culture. I get upset when I drive along and see where somebody has just thrown out a couch or garbage bags or other stuff alongside of the road. What kind of thought process tells a person that doing that is the right thing to do? What kind of thought process says it is okay to just dump our waste into the ocean? One time I was sitting in my car at an amusement park and there was a family from Mexico, (according to thier license plate) and they were “picnicking in the parking lot. They were just throwing any and all of their trash down on the pavement and then the guy emptied out all of the car’s ash trays out onto the pavement. Amazing. I can understand all manner of garbage and debris being washed out into the ocean from something like a tsunami; but to deliberately do it is a crime against God and nature. Going a bit farther out on my rant — I’d bet that if we were somehow able to breathe the pure air that God first created on this planet, our lungs couldn’t handle it because we have evolved and adapted to be able to breathe the polluted crap we’ve created ourselves. Shame on us as human beings. —- Rant is over!

We had our final Lenten meal and Bible study last evening. As I said yesterday, my Sunday school class made soup and sandwiches and it went over well. And —- I still have soup here to eat. Pastor Art finished up his series on The Humor of Christ and it was well received. I do like to hear him preach. Because of his hearing problems he is a little hard to understand once in a while but he does great sermons. I’m really glad to be able to work with him and learn from him. God really did me a solid by blessing me with this opportunity. He and I are both “interim” while the church looks for a permanent pastor but we do make a good team and we both love what we are doing.

Today and tomorrow I must finish up my Easter sermon. And, I need to finish up the bulletin and get it sent to Karen, our secretary. Once the Easter season is done, it will really seem like life has slowed down. But until then, things are a bit rushed.

So, I’ll sign off for today and finish my coffee, watch a few birds and squirrels and give thanks for a beautiful day. Then, head to my office downsairs and get busy. Peace.

The coffee sure tastes good this morning as I look out at the back yard buffet that is covered with patches of snow. Much of what fell melted but roofs are covered and the feeder tops all have snow frozen on them. It is thirty-two degrees but wuth the breeze that is ringing my Corinthian chimes the feels like temperature is about twenty -three. I’m glad I don’t have an outside job or don’t have to go out and fill the feeders this morning. I did that yesterday before it all started. But, the sky is blue with only a couple of clouds and the sun is shining. Unfortunately, it is a false promise because the temperature isn’t supposed to rise more than about ten degrees today.

All I have seen at the feeders so far this morning  are some gold finches. But, there are about a half-dozen starlings sitting high up in the neighbor’s tree. I think they are having a staff meeting before coming down for breakfast. Or, —- maybe it is an early morning prayer meeting. Let’s go with that one. One robin and a couple of junkos are hopping around in the yard for their snacks.

I have to go to the office for a while this morning for a staff meeting. Tonight is the Lenten meal and Bible study. My Sunday school class is the “host” for the meal tonight and we are doing a soup and sandwich supper. Ms. Kate has spent the last couple of days getting stuff ready for it. She made a humongous pot of vegetable soup and I am taking that with me as I go to the church this morning. I also need to set up tables etc for tonight. We had some of the soup for supper last night and it is her very typical delicious. She makes her own beef broth instead of using boxed stuff and I think that makes all the difference. So the house has been smelling wonderful for two days with the oder of that beef cooking. The extra benefit is that when Julie brings the dogs over next time, we have some good bone treats for them. She does the same thing for her chicken noodle soup. One of the ladies will be bringing chili and another  will be making potato soup. I think the other ladies are making up peanut butter sandwiches and pimento cheese sandwiches. I’ve never liked pimento cheese but I guess some people do. But then, I’ve always pulled the pimentos out of the olives too. Hmmmmmm; how would you like to have the job of stuffing the olives with those pimentos? I wonder how they do that?

The cardinals have now moved in for breakfast so I think I will sit and enjoy their company and take a few moments to give proper words of gratitude to God for yet another day of life and blessings. Once again I am lifting you up in prayer so if you are having a crappy day, just remember that someone loves you and has said a prayer for you today. Peace.

Good morning on this first day of spring as we sit here and wait for the snow to start to fly. LOL. It is a cold and cloudy morning. It has been raining one and off and and is thirty five degrees with a “real feel” of twenty four. That doesn’t sound a lot like spring to me. The daffodils are all hanging their heads as if to say; “Oh no, not again.” But, as I look around the yard there are all manner of flowers blooming. The daffodils, the crocus, the hyacinths, and the pussy willow are all blooming. The peonies are up about six inches now. So despite the gloomy and cloudy, God’s promise of spring is quite obvious.

I ask you to join me in offering up prayers this morning for oldest daughter Julie. She is in the midst of another Rhuematoid Arthritis “flare” as she calls it. She’s been flat on her back for two days with this one. No doubt she will get out today because she has class and won’t want to miss that. Bless her heart. She’s turning fifty this July, has gone back to college to earn a degree, works full time and then some managing the Barnes and Noble College Bookstore at Indiana University South East, and has to deal with this stupid RA. Ms. Kate and I are proud of her. She is certainly an example of determination and inner strength even if the body is failing her.

I need to fill feeders again today. I think our fat raccoons are back. Yesterday morning we had two feeders down on the ground and a branch broken off where one feeder had hung in the pussy willow tree. This morning I have another feeder down on the ground. Generally if a feeder is on the ground it is the raccoons and not the squirrels. But the sunflower feeders are all empty so I guess I need to get out and fill them before the weather gets worse. It looks like the bark butter feeders are pretty well empty too as well as the bark butter bits feeders. That leaves the birds to mainly fill up on suet and noting for the squirrels. The robins don’t care, They just hop around the yard gathering up worms and gobbling them down.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday and I think I have everything in order for it. I still need four people to sign up to be disciples for the Tenebrae service next week. I have eight men and a couple of holdouts because they don’t know if they will have to work or not. But, Sunday I will ask for women to read the parts that are unfilled. I just need to change the wording of their part a bit.

That is about it for today. May your day be filled with love and peace. Take time to say a prayer or two. Gratitude is the absolute cornerstone of faith. Shalomn.

Welcome to Saturday and St. Patrick’ Day. I was beginning to think that yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day after I wrote my blog. I turned to Facebook and saw all kinds of celebration things concerning St. Patrick’s Day and I even made comment that maybe I was wrong. But — an Irish friend of mine said that I was correct —- they just celebrate it for several days. I reckon even we might be having a wee bit of corned beef and cabbage today for a meal. My last name might be German but in fact I am adopted and my Ancestry DNA result said that I am “European” which could mean just about anything.

Wow!! A hawk just came through and squirrels and birds went everywhere. It is amazing how they scatter. They were all sitting here minding their own business and suddenly there was a
“Whoosh” as birds took off and squirrels left feeders swinging and ran to the trees. This time the hawk didn’t even stop, — it just flew through. I think it was a Hawk’s version of “Psyche!” I didn’t know they had a sense of humor. LOL.

It is really a gray and brown sort of day. The sky is totally overcast and it looks almost foggy. I guess one would call the air “thick”. It rained last night and will probably rain on and off again today. It is currently a damp forty-four outside and will be getting colder as the front moves through this afternoon. Winter has four days left and seems to be milking every one of them. Like everyone else, I’ll be glad for some milder and warmer days. I was out in the yard yesterday spreading the Epsom Salts on the flowerbeds and I noticed that the peonies are coming up now. My new tulip bed is up about three inches but not showing signs of flower stems or buds yet. The daffodils and crocus, and hyacinths are blooming too. We only have a few of those and they really aren’t pretty. Frankly, the only place I ever see really pretty hyacinths are in the grocery flower section in a pot or at the florist. It seems to me that in my flowerbeds, they are one and done. The second year they are never as nice. But then again, maybe I’m not doing something right with my planting and care.

I find it incredible that a week from tomorrow will be Palm Sunday and Easter is just a week after that. This year Easter and April Fool’s day are on the same day. Don’t you know there will be a lot of sermons preached on that. I’m sitting here thinking of ideas for it right now and it won’t even be my week to preach.

Speaking of Sunday, I hope you will take the opportunity to visit your preferred house of worship at some point this weekend. I’m a big believer in being grateful for blessings received and going to church and sharing that gratitude with others seems to me to make it even better. So, have a wonderful weekend. Share your love and your blessings. Peace.

Clakity clack, Bangity bang, vroom, vroom! It Friday morning and the garbage trucks are going through the neighborhood. Add to that a ringing phone that was a wrong number call. So far, this has been a rude awakening morning. Even the birds are not singing this morning, they are just eating and leaving without so much as a “howdy do?”. The sky is overcast with rain predicted for later this evening. But —- even though this isn’t the prettiest day; as the scripture says; “This is a day that The Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day for tomorrow! Tomorrow is the day that  everybody pretends to be a little bit Irish. I’ve never read the legend of St. Patrick. I’ve been told that for some reason or some how, he drove all of the snakes out of Ireland. I really need to Google that and find out what the legend is and what the story is behind the legend. The other myth I have always heard about St. Patrick’s Day is that if you plant potatoes, you need to put them in th ground on St. Patrick’s Day. I assume that saying comes from th days of the potato famine in Ireland many centuries ago. Isn’t it amazing how these things continue stay alive?

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. Ms. Kate and I got out and did some running around and the weather was perfect for it. We went up to our favorite butcher and meat shop first of all. Ms. Kate wanted to get some beef bones to make beef broth for her vegetable soup. Next Wednesday our Sunday school class is responsible for the Lenten meal and we are doing a soup supper. Ms. Kate is making vegetable soup and she does a wonderful job of that. (Any soup she makes is fabulous.) She also needed to pick up some other stuff at the butcher shop so it was a good place to start the day. Next we went to the cemeteries and decorated the headstones for both of our families. It was time to get the Christmas stuff off and put on some spring decorations in preparation for Easter. Ms. Kate’s family plot is right by the main road in the cemetery and it was always critical to her mom tha the graves looked nice when people drove by. So, Kate is  diligent  about keeping the graves all looking good.

After the cemetery visits, we went to lunch. While we were out, I got a call that a parishioner had been taken to the hospital. So, we went home so I could clean up, and I went to see him. He is fine. By now and was treated, and released. Thank you Lord for your grace and care.

That’s it for this Friday morning. I hope your day is full of blessings and love. Shalomn

I can’t believe that this is my first morning this week to be able to sit out here in my sun porch, have my coffee, and just watch my back yard buffet guests. But here it is Thursday already and that is the truth of the matter. Between doing office hours, Bible studies, Church Association meetings and other meetings, I’ve hardly been home it seems. But today is going to be a beautiful weather day and I think it might be a good day for Ms. Kate and I to get to the cemeteries and put some Easter/Spring flowers on the graves. It is supposed to be sunny and sixty degrees and since it will be our only “nice day” this week, I think we need to take advantage of it.

We had our weekly Lenten meal and bible study last night. Pastor Art is still on vacation so I was to do it. I had prepared a pretty good one I think but at the last moment I changed my mind and we had a discussion about a national social issue. We kept the politics out of it and addressed it strictly as concerned Christians and it went very well with good participation. We only had thirty minutes to talk and they went by very quickly. I was very pleased with our session. We had had a like discussion at our monthly clergy discussion on Tuesday which prompted last night’s session.

If you follow me on Facebook you know that my favorite store to purchase my bird feeding supplies has closed. There are other places to buy specialty product certainly, but checking around on Amazon and other places, the prices are higher and I don’t know about the quality. I’ve learned that the man who owned Wild Birds Unlimited passed away and his wife was just overwhelmed with the business and abruptly closed the store. I pray her life will settle out; she is a nice lady. Perhaps at some point she will be able to reopen. In the meantime, I’m searching for places to keep my buffet going. We have a Petsmart, a Pet Food Center, and a Rural King here in town and they all sell some of the kinds of products that I’m needing. I guess it is time to do some shopping around. One of the products I buy routinely is called Bark Butter Bits and I have about one feeder’s worth left as I sit here and watch the starlings gobble it down like there was no tomorrow.

I need to get my Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday sermons written. I’ve written some notes on each one that I think I’ll use but I need to put them all together and see how they turn out. With luck, they will fall together nicely and I can relax. Or —- I could get them together and they’ll say nothing and I’ll ave to start over. The Lord will provide the message. I just need to make sure I’m using His words and not forcing out mine because I’m in a hurry. As long and busy as this week has been, I love every minute of it and I am so happy and feel so very blessed to be able to continue to serve as a pastor.

Have a good today, and a better tomorrow. Peace.

Winter will not give up! It is thirty degrees at the moment and the ground is snow covered and the streets are a bit dicey  as to whether that is a wet street or it is black ice. Schools are closed for a snow day once again. The good news is that probably 95% of this will be gone by this afternoon. It was just a quick swipe through that left everything looking magnificent and like a perfect winter picture. I got out last evening just before it quit and cleaned my driveway and the street including the hill so folks could get up and down the street. If we waited on a county truck to come through the subdivision area we would be sitting there until July and it would probably be lost any way.

We had a busy weekend and I have a busy week ahead of me. Pastor Art is on vacation so I'm doing duty. It isn't a big deal; I had it all and more for twelve and a half years at my last parish. After I finished at the church yesterday morning, we went to lunch and then out to a local retirement center and I did a worship service for them. We got home from that just in time before our snow storm hit.

Saturday I decided that I would get off my rump and go till the garden and get it ready for planting. I have one of those small Honda tillers that only weigh about twenty five pounds but it does a great job, especially where the ground has been previously used for a garden or at least has been worked up in the past. So, I got it tilled and I put down some Preen weed killer to use as a pre-emergent. I have to admit though, I don't understand how I can use that weed preventor and then turn around in a couple of weeks and plant some lettuce and radish seeds and they will grow. But, the instructions said it works. At the worst, I'll waste a couple of bucks on a package of seed or two. At the best, I won't get a garden full of weeds. So, when the snow quits coming and the ground gets a little warmer, I do  little gardening. I'm looking forward to it.

While I was sitting in the sun porch  yesterday watching the snow and the birds, a huge hawk came flying in. It almost snagged it a bird when it came in and may have in fact done so. It was the largest one I have seen back there. I wasn't totally sure it wasn't a small eagle. It wasn't a bald eagle if it was an eagle; but it was huge. It swooped in and up to a low branch in the maple tree in Ms. Margaret's yard where it sat for at least forty five minutes. The longer it sat there the more relaxed the rest of the birds became and eventually I had a yard full again. However, there wasn't a squirrel to be seen. When it just suddenly took off, it swooped through and snagged a small bird on the way out. It was an amazing scene to watch unfold. I was glad it didn't get one of my cardinals or a bluebird. At one point yesterday I had as many as eighteen cardinals out there at my feeders. Of course today they are mostly empty. I guess I will fill them up this afternoon if the yard dries out sufficiently.

My biggest task this week is to prepare for my Bible study for Wednesday evening after the Lenten meal. I've been working on it and I think I have it quasi-together but I'm not as comfortable with it a I want to be. So, I need to get busy and work on that today. I'm doing it on the Crucifixion and the cross. I hope I can get a lot of stimulating conversation going. It makes the discussion sp much more interesting when folks speak up with their ideas.

That's it for today. I pray you will have a blessed week full of the love of God. Until next time, Peace!

Thirty-one degees this morning with cloudy skies. So happy Friday to you. We have successfully reached the end of another work week, or at least the end of the work week is only a few hours away for those of you who actually have a daily day-time work schedule. However, that weekend that you have been looking forward to is most likely going to be rainy and cold if you live anywhere close to my area. Winter is certainly hanging on and being a real jerk. I was talking to my grandson Josh last night and they have about thirty inches or so of fresh snow to deal with and have been with out power for a few days. The north east portion of the country has been hit with a triple whammy of storms and blizzard conditions in the past week and a half. So, a little cold and rain down here is a blessing compared to them. There are millions of people currently sharing that same weather with him. I offer prayers for their safety. The high seas on the coast have been terrible causing flooding. Josh lives well inland and that isn’t a concern to him.

It is supposed to get a little warmer today and the wind is supposed to be less severe. We didn’t go out yesterday to buy cemetery flowers. Ms. Kate gets too cold too easily. Her blood thinner medicines keep her in a constant state of being cold. I’ve told her many times that I think she would wear a sweater at the equator. So, maybe today we will venture out.

I’m finally getting a handle on what I want to do for my Bible study presentation next Wednesday. It has been a bear to pull together. I know what I want to say —- it is just the organization of it that I am  having trouble with. I don’t want to go rambling around my subject and never actually say anything. Part of the problem is my lack of understanding of how to do power point presentations, nor do I have the equipment to actually present a presentation. Pastor Art has a projector but it won’t work with my new lap top. As much as I love my new lap top; it does have a couple of short coming that I could use such as an ability to play CDs and only one USB port. Julie just bought one like mine and she bought a blue-tooth Microsoft mouse to go with it. That frees up her USB port.

I have an extra guest thismorning in the back yard. The neighbor’s long-haired black cat has been here all morning slinking around trying to catch breakfast I think. This is thesamecat that chases off the squirrels and chases them right on upinto the tree. He just went after another one. At least he leave my birds alone, or I haven’t seen him get one anyway.

Time for a coffee refill and maybe a bagel too. Have a great day and a great weekend. Pray for those less fortunate than you and if you hav a chance —- do more than pray. Get out and help. Peace.

Blustery and cold this morning, but the sun is shining brightly. I don’t think it is helping much though since it is twenty-nine degrees with a “real-feel” of twenty two. The bird baths are frozen over. Unfortunately I pulled the plug on the electric one a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t see a reason to keep using the electricity with the temperatures staying above freezing. Oops!

The weather has not deterred my buffet guests at all. I have at least a half dozen cardinals out there and I also have at least a half dozen robins. The robins are doing some nest material gathering this morning as they run around in the yard getting something to eat. Beyond that, I mostly have gold finches and junkos. It is a little early for the starling gang to get here and bully the neighborhood and the squirrels are still nestled in their nests somewhere. The steady breeze is keeping the Corinthian chimes singing to me. All in all, it is a pleasant and peaceful morning.

I missed writing yesterday; I just ran out of time and when my day finally settled in, I just didn’t feel like doing it. I had office hours yesterday and then Ms. Kate and I went to get a pedicure. The place was kind of packed but we waited. From there we drove to a funeral home sixty-five miles away for a visitation. The sister of one of our parishioners passed away and even though we didn’t know the sister, we felt we should go to express our sympathy and support for our parishioners. From there, we rushed back to the church for the Lenten meal and Bible study.

I have a full week ahead of me while Pastor Art is on vacation. Saturday our church is hosting the Men’s Lenten breakfast and worship service for our local Evansville Council of Churches. We expect around a hundred men to show up for it. It starts at 0700 and we have to start working the prep around 0530. I haven’t been to one in years but as the host church I need to do the welcome etc. Then od course we have Sunday services, and a week full of meetings, Bible Studies and other things. For a “part-time” job, sometimes it is “full-time” work. But, I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to come back out of retirement so I’m not complaining at all. God has allowed me to continue serving Him and the church. I couldn’t be doing anything better with my life. (Maybe something more fun sometimes; but not anything better.)

Ms. Kate wants to go shopping for artificial flowers to decorate headstones. The Christmas flowers are past time to remove and we want to get new ones on the graves before Easter. So maybe this afternoon, when the tempeerature gets above freezing we’ll head out to some craft stores or something.

That is about it for today. I’m including you (yes, you) in my prayers today hoping your day is filled with love and joy and good health. May God’s Holy Spirit lift you up and make your world bloom with warmth and love on this cold day. Shalomn

Lots of guests this morning at the back yard buffet and why not. It is a beautiful morning to fly out to your local bird seed eatery for some breakfast before you start nest building or what ever birds do during the day. There isn’t a cloud to be seen in that bright blue sky this morning. Weather dude says that the wind is going to pick up pretty heavily this afternoon though. I just might have to get my little garden tiller out this afternoon and see if the garden is dry enough to work up. However, as beautiful as it is out there now, weather-dude actually aid we might have some snow flurries this evening and tomorrow. Let me tell you —- I think God has a real sense of humor.

The daffodils are heads up and blooming this morning in the front flower bed. My daffodils in the back yard though are still in the bud stage and nothing has opened. The crocuses are blooming, the pussy willow is blooming and the tulips are up about two inches. The forsythia is budding out too. Our forsythia never has done very well and I don’t have a clue as to why. They are a plant that when they bloom fully can be beautiful. But when they only partially bloom, —- well, they just look sad. Ours always just looks sad. I need to get out there and put some Epsom Salt on the plants. It is a spring time thing to do. And I need to go to Lowes and pick up my fertilizer and yard feed with grub worm killer in it. Stuff to do, stuff to do.

I did go to see my parishioner yesterday at the nursing home that I talked about yesterday. He didn’t remember me and I’m not all that surprised. He’s eight years older than me and we never ran in the same circles other than at church. His wife was there so we had a good visit, and were able to keep him in the conversation as much as possible in that he can’t talk.

Today is “do the taxes day” for sure so, I think it is time for me to stop what I’m doing and go do them. Maybe, we can get them done and then I can still get outside and work up the garden. Wish me luck. Peace.

 

Monday, Monday; it has to be Monday because I'm up and not sitting in my recliner but instead am having a cup of coffee while I get ready for work. I need to be at the office by 0900 although there is no one sitting there waiting for me to punch a clock. I can't complain since I only have to be there until 1200 and then I can go do some visitation. I need to go visit one person in particular and I know it will be a hard visit. The fellow has had a stroke and can not talk so that means I need to do all of the talking. Nor can I take him communion because he has to have a feeding tube and can't eat by mouth. Bless his heart. I've known him for years. He is a few years older than me and was always active in sports and other kinds of physical activity. I haven't seen him since he had his strokes and that has been several years; so I don't know his physical limitations for sure. However, we have some pictures here at the church that he drew and painted so he obviously has some use of his arms.

It is another cloudy day with rain on and off. I was in the sun porch first thing when I got up and there were several birds out there; cardinals, starlings, mockingbirds, red headed woodpeckers, and a blue jay. They are all what I call the "long beak birds" and they have no problem fussing and fighting one another for a place at the bark butter feeders. And that was going on first thing. The woodpecker would come in and run off the cardinals. The starlings would come in and run off the woodpeckers and the mocking birds came in and fussed and fought with all of them. The only one that had little challenge was the blue jay. He's bigger than the rest. I guess in the "bird-world"size matters.

I'm trying to work on my Bible study presentation still but have at least come up with a plan and started my research for it. It is only a half hour max presentation. I'm thinking I'll do it on The Cross and the Crucifixion. What did it mean and who actually was responsible for Jesus being crucified? My hope is that I can ask the right questions, the right way, to generate discussion. I know many people believe there is only one way to answer questions concerning faith and religion but I’m not one of them. I’ve never been a Biblical literalist that says “this is the only answer and you must accept what I tell you.” If we were all indentical in our thinking and actions, Gos would only need one of us. Why make a billion copies of a circle if they are all identical. I also have no problem answering a question with “I don’tknow The answer to that question; — let’s explore it together.”

Enough for today, I have work to be done and places to go. Have a geat day and a great week. Shalomn.

It is a sunny Saturday and that is just wonderful. We certainly can use a sunny and dry day. Although, I have a grandson up in New Hampshire who has been going through the winter weather cyclone the last couple of days and it has been really scairy fo them. We also have a friend who posted a picture of her car that is smashed to heck by a large tree laying on it. They really got hit hard with wind and rain and snow in the north east portion of the country. So, I’ll not complain about a couple of days rain. I’m just thankful for what we do have and I’m thankful that none of my family or friend were injured by their storm.

I have lots of birds at the backyard buffet this morning. God has sent me an extra helping of blessing because the bluebirds were here first thing. I need to refill some feeders today. It is going to be a good day to do a little yard work. The ground is drying out some and I can walk around without getting too muddy.

Yesterday we went to Bob’s place and got the sawdust to put on my asparagus. I took some large plastic bags and we put it in tem. It kept the saw dust from flying out of the bed of the truck and made it easy to use when I got home. I put a four inch layer on my asparagus bed and them took the other three bags that I had to Karen for her asparagus.

To day is my grandsonMatthew’s twentieth birthday. It once again reminds me that our grandkids are growing up. Only Jon is a teenager anymore. Josh is thirty, Amanda is twenty one, Lauren is twenty and now Matt is twenty. That leaves Jon at seventeen. Seems like only yesterday they were just children. Where did the time go?

Julie will be here a little later today and spend the night with us. We haven’t seen her since Christmas so there will be a little neck-hugging to catch up on. I do love my girls and I feel so blessed that all of our kids love Ms. Kate and I. So many families fight and are estranged from one another. But our family is constantly in contact with one another. The girls keep the Facebook Mssenger chat going everyday and so do we. I pray they will always stay close despite the distance in miles. I am an adopted child  and only have one known blood relative and that is a sister who was adopted along with me. We were close for six and a half decades but now are estranged and haven’t seen each other or talked to each other for a couple of years. I don’t know that either of us know where to begin again and perhaps there comes a point where there is just nothing left to be said in life. I just pray that doesn’t happen to any of our girls.

Enough drama talk. The sun is shining and I need to get off of my rump and do something worth while. I hope you have a blessed weekend. Peace.

A blessed Friday morning to you. It definitely looks warm out side but that would be a fooler this morning. It is actually only thirty six degrees with a "real feel" of thirty two, so it is a bit chilly to say the least.

I've called my buddy Bob already this morning and will be going up to his house at 1330 to pick up some of his load of saw dust to put on my asparagus. I don't know how much he has or wants to get rid of. He asked if I thought sister- in-law Karen might want some for her garden and she does. So, we'll see what he has and go from there. I'm thinking that I will put it in large bags unless he has a pickup loaded that he's wanting to give me. It would be easier to transport if I have it in large yard type bags. It wouldn't blow all over everything. I thought about taking a couple of wash-tubs up but that won't hold what I need.

I have several things I want to get done today. I need to get the chains off of the John Deere. I'm pretty sure we are done with freezing ice type weather until winter by now. I'll not take the snow blade off just yet. We have been known to have snow up until the middle and even late part of March. But it won't be with ice so I can get that done. I'd like to do some raking but it is just too muddy. The same goes for doing anything in the garden. I'm like most people, get a little sunny weather this time of year and it begins to feel like planting time. St. Patrick's Day is coming in a couple of weeks so if we want to plant any potatoes, I'll need to prep some ground for a hill or two of potatoes. And it will be early  lettuce and radish time soon too. 

I took my truck in for service yesterday. Had them do the regular oil change, rotate tires etc and I also had them adjust and clean the rear brakes. The brakes were just out of tolerance for what I like them to feel like so I had them correct that. Other than that, everything was pretty well on target. Oh, they tried to talk me into doing a couple of things with the old sales pitch of, "well , your mileage, we recommend" but heck, I don't have fifty thousand miles on that truck yet and I drive it once or twice a week if that. So, I think I will just wait and then we'll plan a trip to North Carolina where I know Gary will look my truck over and tell me what is right and what might need to be done, and he'll absolutely do it correctly. He's the best mechanic I know and it is worth driving it down there to him.

I have a couple of things I need to do for "work" too. I have the Lenten Bible study to conduct on the 14th and have not come up with an idea yet. It needs to take up about thirty minutes. It isn't a matter of lack of subjects, it is a matter of trying to fit a singular subject into a single Bible study. But, I have time to come up with something.

Time to get off of the computer and go do some manual labor. I hope your day is as bright as the sunshine and caries you all the way through God's wonderful weekend. Take stock of your blessings and give thanks for them. Share your love with a stranger. You could be the most positive thing to happen to someone all weekend just by sharing a smile and a friendly "hello". We never know what God will use us for. Peace.

I’ve been sitting here watching weather happen. Initially the sky was cloudy and dull and was promising rain. I knew we are supposed to have a cold front move through this morning and the temperatures will drop about ten degrees. Well, the wind picked up, the rain moved through and now the skies are much brighter in the west so that tells me the front has now pushed through. The really good news is that we are allegedly in store now for a sunny weekend even if it will be a bit cool. We did have a couple of days of sunshine earlier in the week and that tends to brighten everyone’s attitude. Today is the first day of meteorological spring, what ever the heck that means. It tells me that “official spring” is 21 days away.

Last night was the weekly Lenten meal and bible study. Pastor Art did a talk on “The Humor of Jesus”. He will continue the series next week. I like the concept he is talking about. We Christians liked to act as if Jesus spent three years walking around preaching 24/7 and never smiled and was always serious. But —- walking around with twelve men —- you can’t tell me that nobody farted in those three years and it didn’t bring about riotous laughter from everyone of them including Jesus. I’m betting the human part of Jesus found all manner of things to laugh about. I doubt though that Pastor Art will mention that. He’s a great guy but I suspect he doesn’t tell fart jokes. LOL

I have an appointment to take my truck in for service in a couple of hours. I don’t drive it enough to rack up many miles on it. I haven’t had the oil changed in at least nine months because I haven’t driven the 5000 miles. So, it is time to do that.

Julie is coming down for a visit this weekend. She hasn’t been here since Christmas. She has to go to Indianapolis first thing in the morning and will come here directly from Indy. So, it will be just her —- no hubby and no dogs. She might just actually get a full night’s sleep without dogs waking her up in the middle of the night go go out.

I need to cut back the hydrangias as soon as it dries out a little. I cut back the asparagus yesterday before the rain. I’m going tomorrow to Bob’s house to pick up some saw dust to put on my asparagus. It is also time to get the Epson Salts puton the plants. Spring is popping and thee are annual things to do.

That’s it for today my friends. Nothing worth shouting about except the love of God. I urge you to stop, and give thanks for received blessings and then share them. Peace.