Happy beautiful Wednesday morning! I'm sorry I missed you guys yesterday morning. But there is nothing like meeting with a bunch of preachers to start off your Tuesday morning. Some folk do like to hear themselves talk and the meeting went on for awhile. Our guest speaker had an interesting subject although not much was relevant to our two churches. Then another pastor gave an interesting talk about his church which could have been a lot better had not two or three of the other posters continue to ask questions and drag everything out; with each seemingly trying to demonstrate their personal brilliance. Blah, blah, blah; I hate it when people sit there and pontificate and try to "out-holy" one another.

The back yard is a blur again this morning. Our temperature is 14 degrees at the moment and we have a dusting to an inch of snow. The grackles and the red-winged black birds and starlings are here in mega-flocks again today. They were all day yesterday too. They have cleaned out most of the feeders and I'm not going to re-fill them until this bit a snow melts because then they will move back to the fields where they belong. If they are of any benefit, I guess they should have most of the residual seed gathered up from the ground by now. Yesterday there were several flocks of hundreds of them overshadowing the entire area. I don't know if they are migrating or what; but the aviary kitchen just closed til further notice. I feel for the cardinals and the other birds because these blackbirds bully everything else away just by their numbers.

We were supposed to have choir practice last night as a replacement for tonight. But Ms. Kate and I started up to the churches and traffic was next to a standstill due to the snow and snow covered roads. It was dark enough that we couldn't tell if the pavement was wet, dry, or covered with black-ice. So, we turned around and came back home. I'm hoping the roads clear off today because we have the Ash Wednesday service tonight.

I also got a call yesterday morning just as I was getting ready to head to my meeting, from a friend who wanted me to do the funeral for her ex-husband. Their relationship is complicated and no one's business, but she loves him with all her heart and she's a friend. So, I need to get his funeral written today today. It will be Friday morning. And, -- I need to finish my sermon for the 21st of February. That's only ten days away.

The cardinals are looking brilliant again this morning in the bright sun, and they are my reminder of the ever present goodness of God. As cold and snowy as it is out there, the warmth of the love of God is all need. Trust in that and all else will be fine. Have a blessed day. Take time to do something nice  for someone today. Peace.

Cold --- grey --- Monday! That's two four letter words describing today. It could be worse and will be, when we add that other four letter word; snow! Yep, winter has returned for a week's visit after a couple of really nice days. Isn't it amazing how quickly we grab on to those really nice days.

Well, I just came back in from out there. I've filled all of them feeders. The wind is really whipping out of the north and there are light snow flakes in the air. We are predicted for less than inch of the white dry fluffy stuff. The Corinthian chimes are singing loud and clear this morning. As I wrap my hands around this warm cup of coffee and look out --- it just "looks cold". I actually had a finch land on one of the feeders as I hung it back up, and it took the first squirrel about two minutes to come down from a tree and get on a feeder. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't have to re-fill everything by Thursday. The Magnificaant Seven, (my group of Cardinals) are all here for breakfast now and old Mr. Fuss-a-lot the bluejay is making racket for some unknown reason. I think it just likes to hear itself. I do get a lot of joy just sitting here watching the micro-world in my back yard.

We had a blessed weekend. Julie and her pupperoni Auggie came over on Friday. Jim had an orientation for work at Lowes, which he didn't get to because his truck wouldn't start; but that's the way things go. I assume he can make to another one. It is a part time job but he needs it. At any rate, we had a nice visit with Julie. All three of my daughter's are fun to be around. Saturday I had a class to attend in the morning which was interesting. It was on how one of our churches in the area went about developing their vision statement. Yesterday of course was Sunday; and Ms. Kate and Julie and I went out for lunch at out favorite resturant. Then she took off for home and Ms. Kate and did some work around the house and then it was Super Bowl time. I thought it was a great game; especially since thee Broncos won the game. I'm not a big Bronco fan but we are real Peyton Manning fans and have been ever since he started playing for the Colts. The Manning family is just a great bunch of people.

We've moved this week's choir practice up a day because we have the Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday night. So tomorrow I have my monthly Pastor's circle meeting and then choir tomorrow evening. I still have another half of a page or so to write to complete this week's sermon and need to get busy on next week's service. So sitting here, listening to my Gaither Gospel Homecoming CD and watching my birds, while very relaxing and peaceful --- isn't getting the wheelbarrow filled. So, it is time to sign this off with prayers for a world of peace and prayers that your day will be filled with nothing but good things. C' ya'.

End of the week for you Monday to Friday people. TGIF and all that jazz. It appears we are going to have a nice weekend again; although certainly not the 65 degrees we had last weekend. I was just over talking to neighbor Dan and he said we have another Polor Vortex headed this way that is going to plummet temperatures again all the way to Florida. Watch out citrus growers. The weather guys said we may have some snow with this but it should be scattered and light. Roller coaster weather is so much fun.

I had a great start to my morning. I brought my coffee out to the sunporch and there was a big Pilated Woodpecker out there eating at the feeders. It stuck around for a bit, then flew off, and then returned again for a while before flying away. I managed to get a couple of pictures of it to post to Facebook and share. I'll need to fill the bark butter paste feeders again because Mr. Pilated finished off anything that was left in them. And I've had several other woodpeckers come in looking for it.  At the moment I have mockingbirds, woodpeckers, and grackles out there so it has been a "big beak" morning in the back yard. It is funny watching the grackles because there is a flock of maybe fifteen or twenty of them on the ground under one of the sunflower feeders. They are digging through the stuff on the ground  and flipping it around. It looks like an aviary food fight going on and they toss the stuff around and it lands on other grackles.

Julie and Auggie are coming over in a couple of hours to stem the weekend. Jim won't be coming as he has orientation at Lowe's tomorow. It will be a part time job which is fine since he already has a full time job. Her Harry Potter Book Event went extremely well last night. She said they had around two hundred people attend and Facebook is full of compliments about it. I'm really glad it went well for her because she worked her tail off to make it happen as did all of her staff.

We took Ms. Kate to our eye doctor's office yesterday to talk about getting her new glasses. She has so much trouble lining up her glasses when she is at the computer, so she ends up holding her head differently and that causes her to have a sore neck and headache. I think they came to a decision that what she really needs is glasses just for use at the computer. So, we are waiting on a call from them this morning to see what they can do for sure. If she does end up with a single vision lens, it will be a lot cheaper than the no-line bifocals that we are both wearing.

That about does it for me today. While I was sitting here a huge wave of blackbirds came a joined the fifteen or twenty that were here. They really cleaned up the residual seed stuff that was on the ground and made a good hit on the feeders too. Now, they are totally gone again. See why I love being out here. God just sends a wealth of blessings for my pleasure and enjoyment. Have a great Friday!

Welcome to another Thursday. It's another chance to wrap things up and get ready for a weekend, with this weekend being Super Bowl weekend. I reckon we know what most American household television sets will be tuned to on Sunday afternoon; --- that's right; The Puppy Bowl!!!

It is 34 degrees outside at the moment and only going up to 39 today. There are slim streaks of blue sky barely peeking through the clouds. It looks cold, feels cold, and is cold out there. It's even chilly out here in the sunporch. I have the doors open to the house and we do have one vent from the furnace coming out here and it helps some. I should buy a wall thermometer some time and hang it out here. I'll bet it is at least ten degrees cooler out here than it is in the house. Were I going to nap out here I'd drop my light blanket over me.

I count at least a dozen cardinals out there in the bushes and trees and at the feeders this morning. The ground is alive with a bevy of small birds hopping around under feeders cleaning up dropped seed, Goldfinches, sparrows, junkos, chick-a-dees, titmouse, and nut hatches all fly back and forth to the feeders and on the ground. One Downy woodpecker is having barkbutter for breakfast and a little suet to go with it. So far the squirrels haven't shown up to disrupt the peace and harmony.

There is nothing on the agenda today which most likely means we got a lot to do. I know we have some running around to do because we didn't get it all done yesterday. But, I did get out for a visitation at the hospital and we got the bulletins run for this Sunday and for Ash Wednesday. And we made choir practice. The cantata for Easter is coming along, albeit slowly. We have most of the songs down but there are a couple that are really tough and more complicated than we are used to. We still have time to get them right but we have had an inconsistent attendance at practice because of the weather. But --- I have faith it will all turn out right with God's help.

I started my morning off with a texting chat with daughter Heather. I woke up thinking about her upcoming wedding and had questions about the ceremony. Being a planner, I get antsy when I don't know the answers about who is doing what etc and since I'm conducting the wedding, there are things that I need to know. This is a second marriage for Heather and this time I'm not walking her down the aisle; that honor is reserved for her son Jon, and her daughter Lauren is going to be her Maid of Honor. But with the wedding being in California and all of the rest of us not being in California,, theere is a lot of coordination that needs to be done. But, I'll turn off my afterburners and cool my jets. It will all be fine. This wedding isn't nearly as complicated as when youngest daughter Lisa got married. Lisa was in the Air Force, stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC; her fiancé Gary was in the Army, stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC; Julie was living in Massachessetts, Heather was in college in Illinois, We were living in California, and BTW, Ms. Kate was making all of the table decorations and flower arrangements for the wedding; her maid of honor was living in Texas,and the wedding was held at the church Ms. Kate and I had been married in here in Evansville, IN. If it hadn't been for my very patient and saintly mother-in-law acting as coordinator and chief run around person -- I have no idea how it would have gotten done. Granny certainly earned her angel wings.

I think I need to make another pot of coffee so I'm done telling my tales for today. I hope your day is filled with spiritual sunshine even if the actual sun never pops through. Blessings.

Good Wednesday morning! Did you survive the storm from last night or are you somewhere and still going through it. That was something else. All I can say is that Ms. Kate sure picked the wrong time to send me out to the store for hamburger buns! LOL; it is only a mile down to the little gas station where I figured I could get some real quick. When I left the house it was "misting" a little. Well, the gas station didn't have any so I decided to drive a couple of miles up the road to the next gas station; --- no luck, and by this time it was "drizzling. So, I drove on a mile farther to the Dollar General store and picked up my hamburger buns and headed back home. By the time I got back to the first gas station, it was pouring and lightning and blowing. It was blowing so hard that it was next to impossible to see the road because theere was so much water on it. Traffic was down to ten miles an hour, and being on a country road, there was no place to pull off, so I kept on trucking until I got home, safe and sound. Thank you Lord for protecting fools!.

So, I've surveyed the yard this morning and we are none the worse for wear. I had a couple of dead branches in the yard that I quickly cleaned up. The good news is that the bird bath got filled back up from the rain. And --- I was going to have to rake the yard again to get all of the residual winter stuff out of it but -- God washed it clean for me. And this morning it is forty three degrees and it is a beautiful bright sunny day, at least to start with.

Ms. Kate and I had a great call from our granddaughter, Lauren last night. We were both thrilled to talk to her. It is something that just doesn't happen often enough. Lauren is our 17 year old professional motor-cross motorcycle rider. She has started riding in a new kind of event and wanted to tell us about it. It is called "Worc" racing. I have no idea if Worc is an acronym and neither does she. But it is off road racing and is a six mile track through all kinds of terrain. I've Googgled it and it looks scary as heck but she says it's totally safe. I reminded her that she is supposed to be the Maid of Honor for her mom's wedding in April and a Bridesmaid's dress won't fit well over a body cast! So, she promises to be careful.

We have several things to do today; it is Wednesday after-all and we all know that is my "busy" day. We have a few places to go to pick stuff up for an event we are planning and then we are off to the churches this afternoon for the weekly run of the bulletins and then we'll stay for choir. I should also go by one of the hospitals and check on the husband of one of our parishioners. He is really in bad shape and is recovering surgery for a perforated colon. His recovery is going to be long. So, with all of that on the plate, I should get busy. Ms. Kate has laundry going since early so that makes me the slug-bug today.

I'm lifting up all the folks caught in the storms and even tornados south of us. I haven't heard of any deaths involved with it but certainly people are standing around wondering what they are going to do with a destroyed home. I give thanks we were spared any of that and I pray for peace for those that were involved. I'm lifting up the folks on our prayer list this morning and all prayer list. May God bring healing and peace to those in distress. Gods is Good!

That is a cold rain out there this morning. I wasn't out too long but long enough to fill the feeders with sunflower seed. It is forty one degrees which isn't bad except that the air is heavy with moisture when it isn't raining and as I said when it does rain, it's a cold rain. I got caught in a a light shower. But --- the groundhog didn't see its shadow and the forecaster says that spring will be early.

Other than that; --- Welcome to Tuesday, the second of February. I'm sitting here watching a backyard full of birds this morning. The word went out on the aviary email system that the feeders are full I guess. My guests this morning are mostly a few cardinals and a lot of various finches and sparrows. The squirrels haven't moved in yet but they are out there running through the neighbor's trees. They will be in here within the hour. By that time most of the birds will have had their morning feed. We are in for a wild weather day with severe storms predicted for late this afternoon and a wind advisory all day. It isn't too bad yet with the wind but that may be why the small birds are here eating  now, the they can hunker down for shelter during the storms. God takes care of the least of his creatures as well as God takes care of us. I also notice and hear that the geese are moving north this morning. I've heard several flocks overhead, honking as they go.

I met with my Association's Committee on Ministry last evening. It was a good meeting, (if there is such a thing). The process is that a couple of the members of the Committee on Ministry meet and interview each Licensed Minister and generally discuss how we are doing and what we feel we might need from the committee that might be of help in our ministry. Then we are certified and licensed for another year. The good thing about the process for me is that I am now cleared to officiate my daughter Heather's wedding in April with the committee's blessing. I figured there would be no problem but one never knows for sure. But, I had done my homework and went in prepared with the documentation showing the requirements from California which is where the wedding is taking place.   So, now that that part is taken care of, all we got to do is finish planning our trip.

Ms. Kate and I have a bit of running around to do today before the storms hit but we may re-evaluate that and just wait until tomorrow. Mostly it is going to be a writing day for me. I'm working on my February 14th service and no --- I'm not doing it about Valentine's Day. I did that many years ago and while the facts surrounding Father Valentine are interesting --- they aren't necessarily worth repeating again.

My coffee cup is empty and I must refill it. The squirrels are all here and the chase has begun as they bully one another off of feeders. The Robin is here hopping all over the yard snatching up worms and life is just a bunch of good stuff. Think good thoughts today and let your heart be filled with joy. I put a thought in the church bulletin a couple of weeks ago that said: "Worry is just believing that God won't get it right!" ------ I hope you know that God always gets it right! Shalom.

First things first -- fill the bark butter paste feeders. I did and it took about three minutes before the first downy woodpecker discovered they were full. Since then the mockingbird had found it, the starlings have found it, several finches have found it, and a red=headed woodpecker has even come by for inspection. I also need to fill some sunflower seed feeders but that can wait a bit. There is still enough out there for the cardinals and they are busy eating from them.

My walk outside this morning led me to discover that the daffodils are coming up in all of the flowerbeds. That is a real promise of spring. Of course, I've seen a lot of times that the daffodils had to poke through the snow so I'm not toasting the arrival of spring any time soon. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. I'm never sure if the groundhog is supposed to see its shadow or not supposed to see its shadow. I think if it sees its shadow it goes back in for another six weeks of winter which just co-incidentally also coincides with the end of meteorological winter. Amazing how all of that worked out isn't it?

It's a forty five degree partly cloudy morning. The sun has not actually "popped through" the clouds yet this morning and most likely won't today. We had a few rain drops last evening. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm until the afternoon when the severe weather hits us and then drop back to more February like weather in the thirties. Lots of folks seem to have colds and sniffles and it is no wonder with the rollover coaste weather etc.

The squirrels have arrived and the chasing and frolicking, and tail flipping has begun. They are energetic little boogers but they are going to be disappointed this morning. Most of the feeders they like are empty so they have to go through great gyrations to hang upside down and balance on precarious branches to steal from other feeders. If people had the work ethic of a squirrel --- there would be no unemployment in this country. Think about it; there's no amount of work they won't go through to survive and feed themselves; they take food and bury it for later, i.e. a savings account, they work together in communities and protect their territory and they protect their young. Yep, --- people and society could learn a lot by thinking more like a squirrel.

Today is going to be a writing day. This evening I have to go for my annual Licensed Minister review. It is a once a year thing where we go present ourselves to the Committee on Ministry and tell what we have done for the past year. The committee then decides if we are "fit" to continue on as ministers and if so, they license us for another year. The ordained clergy never have to do this unless they have committed an ethics violation of some kind. They are basically like tenured professors. We're are just "hired gospel guns" so to speak and serve at the leisure of the Committee on Ministry. It would be interesting to see what would happen if a church decided they wanted a certain person for thier pastor and the COM didn't renew their license. For instance, I have been the pastor at my two churches for the past 11 years and the two churches are happy with me. I wonder what would happen if the committee decided not to renew my license? I suspect we will never know.

Mr. Cardinal is sitting on the birdbath all bright and beautiful and reminding me that I have goofed off long enough this morning and it is time to get busy. The sun is now bright in the sky which is a pleasant surprise, but I must head downstairs to my office and get busy. I hope your day is bright and pleasant and filled with the blessings of God. My daffodils popping through were my extra blessing from God this morning. Go out there and see what God has in store for you. Peace.