Let’s call today “Wonderful Wednesday”. It is a little overcast and promises to get a lot more so with thunderstorms later today. But, that’s all good. It is sixty-one degrees outside and the flowers are blooming, so what is not to like.

But — I want to tell you about our Elephant Encounter at Wilstem ranch that we had yesterday. We were up by 0500 to get ready because the rive was going to be at least an hour and a half and we would lose an hour due to time zone change. We found the place with a little difficulty. There are simply places that you don’t use a GPS to find.

We arrived in plenty of time, checked in, and then went and petted some alpacas and dwarf brahmas and fed them some oats and stuff. Then we went up to the elephant barn. There were maybe fourteen people there. The owners brought in three elephants, one by one and they had us hose them down, scrub the mud and dirt off of them, hose them down again, and then they had the young kids paint their toenails with somethiing. So, Ms. kate and I got to wash three elephants. It was so much fun. The elephants ranged in age from 33 to 44, and were totally relaxed and gentle, and it was very obvious that they had been doing this for a very long time. It took us an hour just to get the three of them washed and then we had another hour of education and an opportunity to take pictures with them.

From there we went to the giraffe barn where these folks had two giraffes. There was an educational session about giraffes and we all had a chance to feed them carrot sticks and take pictures with them. It was a day that we will remember for the rest of our lives. I’ve said before that there is such a thing as having a “spirit animal”, mine would be the elephant. I have always been facinated by these huge gentle beasts. It breaks my heart and makes me furious that poachers kill these animals to the point of extinction just for their ivory tusks.

After we left the ranch, we drove over to Montgomery and had lunch at the Gasthaus Amish Village and restaurant. The food of course was delicious, and it almost always is when eating at an Amish place.

I have a long day today with office hours, in-home visitation and communion, and then a wedding preparation counseling session this evening. The wedding is the last Saturday of the month and I really don’t know the couple or what they have planned or want to plan. So, I’m earning my money today for sure.

I pray your day will be blessed. Well actually, —- I know your day will be blessed; I pray you will recognize the blessings as they flow from God. I wish you peace.