Monday morning and what in the world am I doing up at 0630? Well, I woke up at 0500 for a necessary trip and just never really went back to sleep. I hate it when my eyes want to close and my brain keeps reaching over and pulling them open. “Let’s think about Christmas”, my brain says. “How are we going to get the tree up the stairs this year.” “What ornaments is Kate going to want to put on the tree this year? She doesn’t want to use the same ones we used the last three years.” How many boxes are you going to have to haul up and down the basement steps, and can you even get to the ornaments in the basement?” “Or is she going to want the ones that are out in the garage storage area?” —- See what I mean? My brain was being a pain in the rear this morning. And let’s not even talk about the three sermons and. Newsletter article that are rattling around in there waiting to come out. So, at 0630, I turned off the alarm and got up and made the coffee.

We had a good church service yesterday. I’m guessing about 75-80 people there. It always looks slight but then you see the choir of fifteen come in and the ladies working the nursery and children’s church and the numbers jump up. Next week our numbers will drop slightly as I guess six to eight of our snow-birds take off for Florida for the winter. Some of them gave me good-bye hugs yesterday as they will not be back before Kate and I head off to our new parish in Ft. Branch come February 1st. Believe it or not that time is approaching faster than it seems. I’m working on my final three sermons for January at Zoar Church and then I’ll start working on my stuff for the new job. I ordered a new pulpit robe for the new job. Since I’ll have two churches I’ll need a robe for each one so I don’t have to pack them back and forth. I had a second robe when I was pastor of those two church the last time but I gave their current pastor one of them. I don’t know if he still has it or not, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve ordered the new one and it wasn’t all that expensive and I can write it off on taxes.

The place I had my minor surgery on is still draining. It doesn’t hurt but is a pain but the butt to have to deal with. BUt better it drains than closes up and get re-infected again. Dr. Jackson said that could happen and if so, it will take a larger incision. I don’t seem to be able to do anything simple. Gotta drag it out.

Time for me to get cleaned up and ready for my morning at the office. It is cloudy and gloomy outside but I hope your morning spirit is full of sunshine. Ne’er forget that God loves you, —- and so do I. Peace.