What a beautiful day! The sun is bright although it is only 34 degrees but it is going up to 61 today.  But, today is a big day. Julie, Heather, and Lisa are all coming in today. This evening we are having an anniversary celebration dinner at our favorite place to eat with about forty of our friends. Yesterday was our 50th wedding anniversary and it is a weekend of celebration. last evening, Neighbor Dan and his wife Minh had us over for dinner and wine. They are good folks.

So, I never got around to writing yesterday. We started rather early going to the florist, then to the grocery and to breakfast. From there we went to the church and spent most of the day preparing for Sunday. Not only are we having the dinner tonight, --- tomorrow we are hosting the entire parish for a luncheon after my second service. That should be for between 80 - 100 folks. This morning we need to go to Sam's Club and pick up two sheet cakes and then to Dewigs and pick up the meat trays. We also have some other decorating things to handle at the church. Then, it is come back home and get ready to head to the resturant by 5:30 pm. Or maybe we'll just head out a little later to do our running around and go straight to the dinner. That would make more sense and save about fifty miles of driving.

The yard was full of blackbirds when I came out here this morning. As always, the starlings are the worst. They are stripping anything that has barkbutter in in it. Most of the other feeders are still full, although I could certainly fill some back up.

I have been so looking forward to our 50th anniversary. It seems like such an accomplishment, and assuming our health holds out, we could see a 60th, and actually even a 70th.  That sure would be something. So, that is next goal; to make 60 years. But, if we passed away tomorrow, we would have had a life full of blessings, and I'm so grateful for every one of them. Ms. Kate and I were talking the other day and we can honestly say that we neither feel that we ever had a "bad spell" in our marriage. We had some rough times certainly, for lack of money or because of military deployments and separations --- but she and I never had a bad spell that threatened our marriage in any way. We have always loved and respected one another and I believe that is the key to our success. And --- we've always had God in our relationship. We may not have had the church in our relationship --- but we always had God as our guide. We taught our girls the value of family togetherness and that together, we can do anything. So, all glory to God and thanks for God's blessings. Now on to sixty!  Have a blessed day.

And a blessed Thursday morning to you. If there is to be any sunshine today it is going to have to come from from within our hearts because the sky certainly isn't fesssing up any this morning. It's a cloudy grey morning, but it isn't raining and we didn't get any snow that was predicted. So, let's start with with thanks to God for that.

Ms. Kate and I went to the churches yesterday and we got the bulletins and newsletter run and the church set up for this coming Sunday. We stayed for choir/cantata practice. I love that we are doing a cantata, and admittedly I am the driver behind that,  but I don't like that all of our choir practice is taken up by the cantata. The choir has only done the Christmas cantata and sang one other Sunday since we started back in September. We should really be able to do better than that.

There are lots of empty bird feeders out there this morning so I know what one of my chores is going to be today. I also need to do a yard walk-through and pick up twigs and branches again today now that the wind has died down some. There is one branch hanging precariously from the poplar tree and it is just out of reach. I might try to somehow knock it out of the tree if I can do so without boinking myself in the head. It looks to be about six feet long but is thin and dead, so it will be light if it does fall on me.

My stack of limbs is really starting to stack up and I need to get it moved and gone. Ms. Kate told me that it is sitting on the astilbe plant, (what ever that is) so I need to move it before that starts coming up. The sad part about moving it is that it really provides a great shelter for the cardinals and other birds. But, the fire bushes will begin leafing out before too long and the cardinals and their friends can hide in there. I was out there a couple of mornings ago walking around and there is so much raking to do this spring again. But not today.

Ms. Kate and I have some more work to do at the church today and some other running around to do. I also need to do some writing but I'm not in the mood to do it. I sat down last night and read the scriptures from the lectionary for the 13th of March which the week I'm working on. I read it, re-read it and read it again and got nothing. I was totally blank. So, maybe after we do our other work today, something will pop into my brain as an idea. It sounds terribly pious of me to say that I need to wait until God tells me what to say; --- but the truth is that without His help, I woudn't be able to write a single sentence. So, Lord, I need a nudge again to get started. Or, I could get started on on the 20th of March. That will be Palm Sunday and will be much easier to write about.

I'm lifting up folks in my prayers this morning who are going through trials. We have several on our prayer list that are going through some habitation for one thing or another. I just heard from my sister-in-law that one of Ms. Kate's cousins had a heart attack, and I lift up my sister who is now at the four month period of her grief from the loss of her husband Byron. For each of these people I ask for God's touch of peace and strength. I'm also lifting up prayers for safe travels for our three girls who are making round robin trips to see us this weekend. It will be wonderful to have all three of them here. Ms. Kate and I are so very blessed. With that, I will wish you the best possible day you can have. Trust in the Lord and walk with Jesus. You'll love the trip. Shalom.

There will be no sunshine today. It is raining and we have reached our high today of 39 degrees already. The rain is to turn to wet snow later today. Old man Winter has a single finger up and he's not counting to one!

Unfortunately, the weather can't stop our plans for today. It is Wednesday and that means we need to go to the church and get our work done and then stay for choir. I hate that our folks have to get out in this but that is the way it is. Hopefully the temperature will stay above they freezing point as predicted and the snow won't stick.

The rain hasn't dampened the spirit of that Robin that is hopping all over the yard. It's pulling worms up left and right. Nor has the rain stopped the rest of my fine feathered friends. The cardinals, finches and woodpeckers are all here for breakfast. So far the blackbirds are not here, but I suspect they will be in another hour or less.

The wind has been and will continue to be stiff today. Once again I have twigs and dead branches down from the poplar tree. God is doing a marvelous job of trimming all of that stuff out for us this winter. I just hope I don't get hit by one of them when I'm out there. Some of them are substantial. When the rain has stopped, as it has at the moment, and you can hear the slight wind blowing and the Corinthian chimes ringing, it is quitely peaceful and can just lull you back to so closed eyelids. We have two sets hanging in the pussy willow tree and I absolutely love to hear them. Their sound is quite melodic and pure. The church I grew up attending has a set of Corinthian Bells that play every fifteen minutes and then strike the hour. One can hear them for a long way and it is beautiful.

I didn't have to wait long -- the blackbirds are here en masse. I could hear them coming by all of their clacking and noise. They flutter down and they fly away and repeat the process continually until by some signal --- they all leave. It is interesting to watch.

Ms. Kate and I both had highly productive days yesterday. She has been doing "spring house cleaning" and has turned this place upside down. Bless her heart. The place looks so good. The only danger zone is her office. She has so much craft stuff in there from her scrapbooking and her greeting card making that I'm afraid the floor might give way. I don't know how she finds anything but it meets her needs. But --- she needs about three times the space that she has.

I'm out of thoughts for today except for prayers for you and me. I pray you will feel the power of the love of Jesus Christ today. If and when you do, I pray you will share that love with someone else. Life is too short to walk around with anything less than love in your heart. You never know when life may end and you wouldn't want your last living thought to be on the wrong side of God.

A sunny, currently cloudless, 41 degree day greets me this morning. That is great to see because the next couple of days are not going to be very good. Lots of rain ending with  some snow is in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. Then we are back to the middle 50's again for the weekend. Yep, winter is giving birth to spring. Last night we had an absolutely beautiful full moon. It is called a "Snow moon" according to Native American lore. It was bright enough that it was possible to read by it.

The cardinals really look beautiful this morning as the sun glistens off of them. I see a few of the goldfinches have started to turn just a bit more yellow. Actually the sun makes the grackles more beautiful. They are what I call a blue/black and when the sun hits them just right, that dark blue really stands out. I think they call that color "indigo blue", but -- since I'm quasi-color blind, what do I know. I can see colors, but I have what is called a green deficiency which means that anything that has green as part of its color make-up is skewed in color to me. Most things that are "light green" are just brown or grey to me me. I'm probably the only kid in school that got a "minus" in coloring. ----But --  color is starting to return to my back yard in one fashion or an other. The starlings however, are still "no value added", sunshine or not! When the winter brown is all that is evident out there it doesn't inspire much. As much as I don't like snow, it is a beautiful sight when everything is covered with it. But like most folks, I am ready for spring. Most of the daffodils are up about four inches now. I haven't seen a tulip pop through yet though and neither have the crocus.

I'm half way through with my sermon for the first Sunday in March and I need to finish that today. I don't think we have any running around to do today so I should be able to dedicate the day to writing stuff.  I hope to not only finish that sermon but also put together a few more worship services for the month of March. I'm just trying to get ahead of the game a little bit.

If I'm going to get ahead, I need to remove my self from this chair and move to my office downstairs. Before I do though I must take time to offer up prayers of gratitude for such a beautiful day, for a family that loves me, for reasonably good health, for friends like you, and for the privilege God has given me to pastor two of His churches these past almost twelve years. My life is blessed and if I died today I think it could be said that I lived a good life. I often take stock of my blessings and I know that I certainly have done nothing to be this rewarded. So, I can only humbly give thanks to our loving and grace-giving God. Have a blessed day.

Monday, February 22nd; Happy 30th Anniversary to our oldest daughter Julie and her hubby Jim. I hope they get to have another thirty years together. When I think about it, there is no reason to think they won't. Afterall, Julie would only be 78 years old and I think Jim would be 80. So, it is possible.

All is quiet in the back yard for the moment. The gaggle of blackbirds came through and cleaned up the yard under the feeders again. I don't see them at the moment but I can hear them up in the top of the poplar tree. So now, the cardinals, the mockingbird, finches and woodpeckers all get their turn until the blackbirds swoop back down. When the blackbirds land, they remind me of the character Batman by the way they just kind of float down.

We had a good weekend and Sunday. The services were fairly well attended and the weather was nice. Saturday was a picture perfect weather day. Yesterday was a little cooler but still nice. But the weather of course is going to go back down hill for a couple of days this week with much cooler temperatures, rain and maybe even a bit of snow. It is what it is. The old preacher's line is; I'm in sales, not production. The good news is that we have flowers coming up in every flowerbed and within a month, I suspect we'll be seeing daffodils blooming everywhere. I looked this morning to see if we have any crocus blooming yet but I didn't see any. I always look for that first crocus because it is the first anchor of spring. I know they will bloom in the snow, but they have a hold on the changing of the season and when the snow melts, the crocus is still there . I think I is possible that the crocus might make a better Easter flower than the lily. It lives on regardless of whether it gets snow covered or not. When the darkness is gone, The crocus is the light still standing.

Speaking of Easter; the month of March is but a few days away. There will be extra services to prepare; a Maundy Thursday Service and a Sunrise service. All of that is approaching rapidly and I need to get busy preparing ahead. I'm also needing to prepare ahead for April because we are taking two weeks of vacation in April. So the next few weeks will find my body tied to a computer downstairs in my office.

We have begun planning a bit more seriously for our trip to California in April. I made the hotel reservations for all of us there in Murrieta, CA for the four days that we will be there foro the wedding. I was disappointed thata the price of our room went up by a hundred dollars a night just because it was Friday and Saturday. But, it is standard practice --- and they can easily get it. It just seems morally wrong somehow. It's not like the hotel will provide a hundred dollars more worth of services on those two days. Any way --- now Ms. Kate and I need to plan the rest of the trip.

My cup is empty which is a good sign I need to get up out of the recline and start getting some real work done. I hope you have a most wonderful day. Never doubt that God is good; -- all the time. Talk with God often during the day.

I don't now the last time we had 57 degrees in the morning, and going to 72 today. And unlike yesterday, the world isn't blowing away in the wind. It is just a beautiful sun shiny morning. I think I must get outside today at some point. The ground is soggy still from melting and tonight rain isn't going to help that any. For sure I have to go out and fill all of the feeders again and I also need to do a yard sweep to get all of the dead limbs and twigs that have come out of the poplar trees this week because of the wind. My pile is getting taller and when it gets warmer I need to load up the truck and take all of this stuff out to Kevin's farm and dump it in the woods. Actually, I wish I had a fire pit and could just burn it in that. It would make a nice wiener roasting fire. But, I don't have a place to build a fire pit. Often I just pull the trash can around and break the stuff up into small pieces and let the trash man haul it off. I might do that again but it will take a few weeks to get rid of it at that rate.

The girls, Ms. Kate, and I are all on the net this morning holding a conversation. The group is called "The Committee" and we do this routinely. I love it. It's like sitting around the kitchen table visiting and I don't have to drive. We've been talking most of the morning; we come and we go and we join back in the conversation. Thank you technology.

I've been also sitting here watching my birds, playing my computer games on my IPad and listening to Alan Jackson on the Bose. I was up until 0100 this morning simply because I was busy watching YouTube videos of the Gaither Homecoming Concerts. I hadn't planned to stay up that long but next thing I knew it was 0100. That happens frequently. last night I watched a George Strait show called The Cowboy Rides. Away. I think it was a farewell program before he starts a one year hiatus. I really enjoyed it.

It would appear that the family is all ready to get busy with their respective day and even Alan Jackson is on the last song of this album so I guess I better quit too and get productive. God has provided an excellent day; don't forget to give God praise for a day like this. Have a blessed weekend.

The wind is whipping this morning at a steady 29 mph. The birds are having a little trouble staying aloft when they take off and sometimes when they try to hang on to the feeders. It is supposed to be this way all day but the temperature is going to be warm.

We never did get out to do our runnimg around yesterday until late last night and then we just ran down to Target and picked up a few things on the list. Today we are going to meet some friends for lunch so maybe after that we'll go do a little more running around after lunch. We for sure need to get up to our butcher shop and pick up some German Bologna. That is some good stuff. Our butcher and his wife may be heading out to Germanay in a month for an international competition with their sausage. They just just took top honors at another international competition here in the United States and have now been invited to go to Germany. We are really proud of them. The family is a fourth generation meat processing family, but this youngest couple have really put them on the map. And they are such great people too. We are lucky enough to have another butcher shop here in Evansville that is real good too but they don't hold a candle to Dewigs.

Ms. Kate is busy sorting pills today. It is a job she hates to do because it is rather tedious. I think she takes almost 20 pills a day and has these pill containers that hold a weeks worth. She tries to line them up for at least a month or five weeks at a time. So that takes quite awhile. But --- it all keeps her alive and hopping so that's what needs to be. I am so very fortunate (knock on wood) that I have such few meds that I have to take; four pills a day and a couple of inhalers every day. We are also lucky that we have very excellent insurance.

I can smell that delicious oder of fresh baked brownies coming out of the kitchen. How great is that?? Ms. Kate sure does spoil me. She said the box of mix was in the way. So she just fixed it. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation to me. One of the things we picked up at Target last night was a couple of cans of fruit cocktail. She has been making jello for us with fruit in it. It is something that we both love and makes a great snack. We've also been having Rice Krispie treats that she makes. I love those silly things. They don't amount to much but I could sit and eat a pan of them. Sometimes we'll buy one of those huge ones at Sam's and snack on that for a week.

It is time to get showered and do a couple of things around here before we head out for lunch. As I do, I offer up prayers that you will have a blessed weekend. God provides so very much in our lives that we should never have a day that we are not grateful to be alive. Take time to stop and give thanks to the Lord today. Peace.