You do realize, don’t you, that I am going to be a day late most of the week. That is because we had a holiday yesterday and therefore my brain will tell me all day that today is Monday when it is actually Tuesday. It happens every time we hve a three day weekend. So I guess that means I need to concentrate this week instead of running on automatic.

It is a rainy morning and it has been raining on and off for awhile. I got up at 0530 for a necessary trip and it was raining then and it is supposed to rain quite a bit through tomorrow. Tropical Depression “Alberto” has moved up from the Gulf of Mexico very slowly and is sharing needed moisture with us. I hope we don’t get too much rain but I did have to go our and water the garden yesterday. It had not rained since I planted the okra, zinnias and coleus so maybe now it will get a good start. My tomatoes were looking a little spindly too so this will be good for them. God does a much better job of watering stuff than I do. My next door neighbors to the north are in Panama City, Florida where this Alberto came ashore as a tropical storm. It hasn’t made for a very pleasant vacation for them.

Ms. Kate has an appointment this morning at the beauty shop to get her hair cut. After that we may both go to get pedicures; we both need them. It sucks being in a condition. that we have gotten to the point where we can’t bend over and reach our toe nails and stay there long enough to cut them, but life is what it is. Other than that, I have a sermon to work on today. The liturgical reading for the day is a tough one and I’m not connecting to it mentally yet. So this will be an afternoon of head scratching to make the brain flow. Some scriptures are so easy to absorb and draw lessons from while others really leave you wondering. That’s the ones that I have to pray about and ask for clarification from the “author”.

Tomorrow morning I have electricians coming to replace all of the overhead light panels in my basement. I’ve had to be working in the dark down there for several weeks. It will be nice to be able to have my basement and office lit up once again. The fluorescent lights that are down there are probably at least twenty-five years old and they flicker and are a yellowish tinge. They don’t sell the replacement bulbs for them anymore because they are so energy inefficient. I’m having LED panel put in which are super energy efficient and will most likely last me the rest of my life.

The squirrels are playing chase around the yard to keep one another off of the feeders. The rain isn’t bothering them except it make it a little more difficult to climb the metal poles to the feeders. hat is always fun to watch as they try to climb and slide back down because they can’t get a grip. The robin doesn’t care if it is raining or nor — it is still taking a bath in the bird bath. It is all just blessings and entertainment and I give God thanks for yet another blessed day. I hope you take the time to do the same. Peace.

I don’t know that it is appropriate to say “Happy Memorial Day” considering why we celebrate the occasion, so I’ll just say Good Morning on this Memorial Day. Were this twenty years ago I would have given my summer safety briefing to all of my troops to include remaining them that they are “required” to take care of them selves which would even mean not getting sunburned to the point of not being able to work. Then of course the required no drinking and driving speech. I’m quite sure commanders and senior enlisted advisors are sill giving that same speech. It is a “cover your butt” speech so that if they do get into trouble, they can’t say they weren’t warned or reminded. 

We’ve had a good weekend. Julie, Jim and the pups are down but will be leaving around 10:00 this morning. She has an appointment to get Auggie groomed at 1330 hrs Eastern Time Zone and they have an hour and a half drive back home. Hopefully the traffic won’t be too bad yet. 

The wedding I had to do on Saturday went very well. The rain held of so the ceremony could be held outside and it was a lovely setting. They had anticipated about 75-80 people there but in actuality there were only about forty. 

Yesterday I preached the Sunday service and again we were able to have it outside. The weather was perfect. We had a lot of our folks out camping in Harmony State Park so I figured that the attendance would be slim. However, I had about twenty five visitors show up to hear me preach so that filled in a lot of folks and we ended up having 62 total in church. It was a great day.  

I have all of my bird feeders filled here in the Backyard Buffet but I don’t have a lot of takers this morning. I’ve had a Robin come by a couple of times and take a bath and I’ve had a cardinal or two at the feeders but that is about all. I am glad to report that the hummingbird was back yesterday. I’m glad to see that. I was afraid that they had moved on to someone else’s yard. 

I don’t know what else we might want to do today after the kids leave; probably not a lot of anything. It looks like a good day to just relax and enjoy being alive and being thankful for those that have given their lives to keep this country a free nation. That’s waht the day is really all about — not having picnics and drinking too much. I hope your Memorial Day is used to bring back memories of loved ones from your personal past who have helped shape your life. Take time to stop and be grateful for them. Have a wonderful day. Peace. 

Bang, bang, bang! Another new roof is going on in the neighborhood and they do start early in order to beat the heat of the day. I don’t blame them a bit. I did a bit of roofing many years ago and I can tell you that came a hot summer afternoon, it is had to be sitting or kneeling up there. Perhaps these days the composition of the material is different, but back then, it would get soft and a peson had to watch how they handles it or stepped on it so it wouldn’t tear. I think about that everytime I see roofers working in the summer. Of course, it could be worse; they could be putting on a metal roof.

Well, happy Friday morning to you. It is a beautiful morning full of sunshine. It is already seventy-seven degree this morning and we are having another air quality alert day. I need to read the report and see what the particulars are on that.  Some thing I pay attention to and other I don’t much about. I still need to get out there and do some flower bed work and I can’t keep putting it off.

I spent a good deal of time yesterday making vacation plans and arrangements. Ms. Kate and I are going to try to cram a few jacket list items into a single week. We’re going to start out by going to Amish country over in Arcola, IL. The move to southern IL and spend a night at Metropolis, IL — the home of Superman; then to Nashville, TN where we have tickets to see The Grand Ole Opry. From there we are thinking maybe we’d drive over to Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC and see the Chihully exhibit fro an evening and then head back home. It is ambitious for sure, but I think we can do it all in a week. We havn’t solidified the NC portion just yet. But Ms. Kate wants to see it so I suspect we’ll end up going. The exhibit is only there for the summer. It is an artistic glass thing.

Our weekend will be busy. Today we are meeting Bob and Brenda for “Schrooms & Beer”. That’s always a fun lunch time. Tomorrow Julie, Jim, and the pups are coming over and I have the wedding to do tomorrow evening at church; and I’m still hoping the rain holds off. Sunday we have the outdoor worship service and I’m preaching. Monday is Memorial Day. The kids will leave fairly early because they have dog grooming appointments in the afternoon.

Toothless, the black cat, was here again this morning trying to catch another bird I saw him before he got one and ran him off. I’ve had a steady bunch of customers at the Back yard Buffet today. Now the squirrel have finally arrived so they will take over the feeders for awhile. Then, I’ll have to fill them again this afternoon. I scrubbed the bird baths again yesterday and the birds have been enjoying their bath in that enough that I’ll have to fill the again today too.

I pray your weekend is full of fun and family time and worship. It is Memorial Day weekend which means the highways will be crowded. Be careful out there. God Bless! C’ys!

Sunshine, seventy-one degrees, birds singing; —- what more could a person ask or this morning? It is an absolutely beautiful morning. I was up about 0700 this morning and have been just enjoying the peace and quiet in the backyard that gets shattered once in a while by the sound of the garbage truck folks out working already. The clacks, clangs, and bangs are enough to wake anybody up.

I got my front yard and Dan’s yard mowed yesterday. Today I’ll mow my backyard, fill the bird feeders, and then work awhile on dead heading flowers and pulling some weeds. But, it is going up to almost ninety degrees today so I’m not going to stay out there too long. It is an ozone danger day and my lungs and asthma will tell me all about that if I’m stay too long out there. I may have to pull the garden hose out to the garden and water that down. I have planted my okra and I planted an area with zinnias and coleus flower seed and it hasn’t rained on it yet. So I need to water it. The tomatoes look like they could use a bit of water too.

We had our staff meeting yesterday and then I got a call that a parishioner was in the hospital. I don’t know the people and they quickly admitted that “welllll —- we haven’t been for a long time.” But, they are on the roles and people will often quickly claim “their church” when they get hospitalized, whether they attend or not. Ours is not to judge but to serve. Who, knows, that one visit yesterday just might be the impetus to bring this couple back to the church. If it does, then I will have done what God asked me to do. And —- if it doesn’t, I will will have done what God asked me to do and they will know that their church family cares about them.

The weather forecast is not looking promising for Saturday afternoon’s outdoor wedding nor Sunday morning’s outdoor worship service. They are forecasting thunderstorms. There is no particular “front” coming in but the high heat and humidity could cause pop-up storms and right now the prediction is 50% or better that it will happen. It will be what it will be I reckon.

Ms. Kate and I are still looking for some place to take a week of vacation. I finally just put down some days in June. Now we just need to figure out where and what. We don’t want to just “be on vacation” at home because I know I’d be down stairs working and she’d be making cards and stuff. So, we need to figure out something.

That is it for today. It is time to remove rump from recliner and get busy. Have a blessed day. Peace.

I try to stay out of politics and political statements because beyond voting for who ever I think is the best candidate I suspect there isn’t much I can do. And frankly, my record on best candidates hasn’t proven to be too wise since I have been frequently disappointed by the actions of those I had supported. But, this morning I made a statement on Facebook that will probably cause some minor stir. I was sitting here in the sunporch when theere was suddenly a noise out at the finch feeder and it was swaying. Then I see the neighbor’s black cat running off through my yard with a finch in its mouth. I noted this on my Facebook page and said that the other birds had probably sent “thoughts and prayers” and had gone on about their business — very much like politicians and school shootings. Now, I guess I could figure out a way to raise the feeders. I could go shout at my neighbor to keep their cat out of my yard. I could quit feeding birds —- but none of these solutions are acceptable. What I am going to do is pop a BB or two at that cat every time it comes close to my feeders. It will learn that it needs to go somewhere else to do its hunting. Politicians could do something about these shooting too and I don’t mean pass another law about controlling guns. My rifle has set in my closet for years and the only thing it ever shot was a target. But, our society needs to reverse directions and start caring about someone beyond the thumbs on their cell phone.  —— Oh, by the way, the cat just came sneaking through my flowers to sit below the finch feeder again. It just got lesson one!

So —- happy Wednesday to everyone. Today is my youngest daughter and her husband’s anniversary. I think it is number twenty-six. Gosh, time does fly. Where are the days when she was just a little toe-head sitting out in a water puddle in the middle of the rain holding her umbrella? I’m very proud of them as adults and as a couple. They are both successful in their chosen field and they have opened and are running a very successful business and have raised to wonderful children. And they have a deep connection with God as the basis of their relationship. What more could a parent ask for? They have been fully blessed and so have we.

I need to get ready to head to the office so I’ll drop off for today. I pray your day will be a beautiful one filled with God’s love and blessings. Peace.

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo, — tell me which way will the weather go. Will it rain or will it shine, — please let the weather be just fine. I have wet sidewalks again this morning and a partly cloudy sky that is filtering out the sun. It is currently seventy-four degrees and only going up to about eighty -five today. That is quite tolerable as long as the temperature doesn’t match the humidity level.

I’ve been being entertained by watching the Utility Guys over in Ms. Margret’s yard again. They keep doing something around the sewer manhole. They were there for about thirty minutes and then they took off. This is maybe the fourth time they have been back there. Who knows if they have actually accomplished anything or not.

I made great strides in my upper-most flower bed yesterday afternoon trimming back the peonies and iris and pulling wild onions that had grown to about two and a half feet tall. The ground waas moist enough that the onions came up rather easily. I intend to go back out there again this morning. I also need to get into the azealia bushes that are up next to the house and cut out the volunteer trees and pull out the morning glories and another vine that is starting to I climb the wall. I’m not sure what it is but it might be poison oak so I’ll need to throw on a long sleeve shirt to do that and use my gloves. I know I have poison ivy out there and I’m going to spray that today. If I get all of that done, then I’m moving down to the flowerbeds by the street and dead head all of the peonies and iris down there. Having flowerbeds is a lot of work. My only problem is that I have such a hard time getting down on my knees and getting back up again. Getting old isn’t for wimps for sure. But I have had so many people walk by the house and enjoy our flowers just as we do. I guess I’m working for compliments. LOL. I’m looking at the hydrangeas out here in the backyard and they are are full of blooms tha are coming on. The blooms are there but still developing. They will turn from green to white within a couple of weeks. It will be beautiful.

We had a God answered prayer yesterday at the church. We are getting ready to replace the pew cushions at church and the cost is going to be about $10,000.00, so we were about to begin a capital fund campaign to raise the money. While I was at the office yesterday, a parishioner came in and gave us a check for the full amount. God touches hearts and miracles happen. I was overwhelmed to say the least. What a wonderful for this person to have done. God turned their grief from the loss of a loved one to joy by giving a gift that will no doubt last at least a quarter of a century. All praise to God this morning. Have a great day.

It is the 21st of May already; just a week left of this month. That means that 2018 is just shy of forty days from being half gone. Time is the great constant isn't it. It marches on at a steady rate; never speeding up nor slowing down. God reached down and gave the planet an eternal spin that hasn't wavered a micro-second in all of time. That is just another example of the perfection of our creator. Just think about that perfectness for a second. If the world rotated any faster we would be flung off into space. If it rotated any slower, we wouldn't be able to move because the gravitational pull would hold us down. (OK, I may have those things reversed. I didn't stay awake through all of my science classes)

It is a muggy morning again. It rained again last night a little bit. The sidewalks were still damp this morning. We are under a threat for severe storms once again today with a chance for hail and damaging winds. It will be Wednesday before we can look for "nice weather". However, my Backyard Buffet guests could care less. They have emptied the feeders once again so I'll need to fill everything back up again. Saturday afternoon  I bought another eighty pounds of sunflower seed and refilled my cans. I have been rather disappointed in that my one or two hummingbirds have not come back since we refilled their feeder. It has set there long enough that we need to empty it and put in a fresh batch. We used the commercial product and I think frankly we are just a s well off mixing just water and sugar instead of making sure the liquid is red. I think I recall reading once upon a time that the red fluid/feed wasn't particularly even good for them, and maybe they just don't like it. It's tough keeping up with aviary whims and wishes.

We had a fairly good attendance yesterday for our Pentecost Sunday service although it certain;y wasn't the ninety-five we had the week before with Mother's Day. This coming Sunday is Memorial Day weekend and I suspect the attendance is going to be slim. I know of at least three families that are going to be out camping. That will take a dozen people out of the number. It is supposed to be an outdoor service in our Woodland Chapel and I'm really hoping the weather holds and it doesn't rain or storm. Of course, I also have the wedding out in that chapel the night before so I hope we don't get any more rain after today until the weekend is over.

I have office hours this morning until noon. If by then it isn't storming or raining, I have a bunch of small trees and weeds to get out of my azaleas and flower beds. Because of the large trees that this neighborhood has, I'm fighting a constant battle with volunteer trees, especially red bud and tulip poplar. When we first moved here I was constantly fighting black gum trees but thankfully, most people in the neighborhood have gotten rid of those trees. I had mine cut down the second year we lived here. I got really tired of turning my ankle when I stepped on the darn gumballs. I do miss the beautiful colors they had on the leaves in the fall but it wasn't worth the aggravation of cleaning up thousands of gumballs.

Time to get to work and accomplish something. I doubt that anybody will come by the office today; there seldom is a time when anybody comes by to speak to the pastor. Mostly if anyone comes, they have business with the secretary.

I hope your day is blessed. I pray that you will have the peace of Jesus Christ in your heart  and will feel the love that comes from that relationship. Peace.