Saturday morning and we’re at Heather’s house in Menifee California. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night in Las Vegas. Yesterday we drove across the Mojave desert to southern CA and will spend tonight yet here and then head back to Las Vegas on Sunday. It is so very great to be here with Heather and the kids. Her husband, John, is up in Monmouth, CA for the weekend. He and several of his bicycle riding buddies are up there to do a fifty mile bike ride in the mountains. They do this every year. Usually it is a 100 mile trip that they do and they do it in one day.   I tell him he’s a beast. But, he is a great guy. We think a lot alike.

Can you believe it —— I actually won some money on a slot machine!!! When I go to Vegas, I play the penny machines only which in actuality can cost you as much as $5.00 a pull. Well, I sat down to this machine and it started pay out a little. Then it started to pay out a little more and I just kept winning so I up my betting and it still kept hitting. Before I knew it I was up to over $500.00 win. I cashed it out. I have never had a session like that and I got to admit —- it was fun. But, I also know enough that I won’t have that kind of luck again. I’ve seen people win a large some of money of a particular machine and they continually go back to it and before they know they have lost all of that money and then some.

So, I’m going to drop off and get myself ready to do some stuff with the family. Have a great weekend. Shalomn.

Hello and happy Wednesday from Las Vegas. Ms. Kate and i arrived here yesterday afternoon and have spent the time playing a few slot machines, had a couple of really good meals, and spent a lot of time just resting. We went to bed at 2200 last night and slept like logs. I guess the getting up at 0500 CST and goping to bed at what would have been 2400 CST kust wore us out. 

Today we again played a few machines, I think I'm down $50.00 or so for the two days. I consider that really good for me. I usually alot myself $100.00 a day to lose so I'm excited to be "only" fifty bucks in the hole. That's a win. I suppose there are people that would say I'm a bad pastor because I come out here to Vegas and play the slot machines and I'm gambling. But, I look at as the price of entertainment. I don't think of it as gambling because I never expect to win, and I'm usually right. 

Today is 9/11/2019 and it is the 18th anniversary of the attack on America and the downing of the Twin Towers in New York City, the crashng of a plane into the Pentagon, and the attempted seizure of another airplane that resulted in the passengers overtaking the terrorists and the plane crashing into a field. Over 3000 people were killed at the time and the war that resulted from that act has killed many, many of our soldiers and civilian workers from this country and an untold number of "the enemy".  The bottom line is that hundreds of thousands of God's people on both sides of the world have died or been wounded with lost limbs and life changing injuries all because of hate. And while we think of the losses of the fighting paticipants, we fail to remember that every victim of the initial 9/11 attack, and every other person that has been kiolled or injured due to this action since then --- had a family that grieved. We humans are often lousy examples of God's creation. 

That's it for tonight. Have a great week. Peace

Monday morning and it is going to be a hot one today. The morning has started off nice with temperatures in the lower seventies but it is going to climb into the 90's before the day is over. And the blesed humidity won't let the temperature go anywhere by itself so it too is going to climb. How nice of them to play together and make it miserable for everyone.

Saturday I decided that I need to get another pair of shoes to wear. I wanted a pair of white tennis shoes. I have a pair of Under Armor tennis shoes that I bought and the one for my left foot works well. However, the right shoe is so big that it literally feels like a clown shoe when I wear it. It actually "flops". This brace forces me to wear a size eleven in order for it to fit over my brace. My normal shoe size is a nine and a half. So we went to Shoe Carnival to shop for a pair of shoes. I ended up having to buy two pair of shoes in order to have one pair to wear. I got a pair of size eleven and a pair of size ten that were identical. The best they would do for me (and it makes sense) was to do a BOGO with the second pair being half price. But, at least I have a pair to wear that looks much better.

My blog writing is going to be sporadic for the next week. Ms. Kate and I are leaving early tomorrow morning for vacation. We are heading to Vegas. We'll spend three night in Las Vegas, then two nights at Heather's house in Menifee, CA, and then back to Las Vegas for another three nights. So, I'll write when I have the time.

We had a good worship service yesterday. We had 68 in attendance. For whatever reason our attendance is lower when we have outdoor services. I think people worry about maybe tripping in the layers of mulch that is covering the ground between the pews. And, there are always a few bugs that fly around and some folks don't want to sweat if it is hot or shiver if it is cool. The church has spent a lot of money fixing up the Woodland Chapel in the last two years. We now have a great set of concrete steps running from the top down to the "chancel" area. It has a removable set of handrails that we put in each Sunday and we take them out for brides to walk down the aisle.

Did you take time yesterday to go and worship? I hope you did. I find that if I don't start my week with worship, much of the week just seems "off". It is that sense of Christian comraderie that I love. But, if you missed this week, put it on your to-do list for the next weekend. With that, I'll sign off for today. Have a blessed week. Do something nice for a stranger and call someone that you haven't talked to in awhile. It will make you feel better. Peace.

Friday morning, end of the work week for many people. It is another sunny morning here. The temperature at the moment is 71 but it is going to climb to 89 before the day is over. That of course means muggy.

I’m very happy to note this morning that our kids on both costs are safe and sound. Lisa and family have made it through Hurricane Dorian with no damage. It stayed pretty much on the outer banks of North Carolina. I understand they got hammered pretty hard there. Heather and her kids are safe too. The kids and her ex-husband evacuated their home under mandatory evacuation order from the forest fires. Grandson Jon is staying with Heather and Lauren and her dad are staying at Andy’s parents house. I don’t know what they did with the dogs. Heather said they certainly weren’t coming to her house. One of the dogs is aggressive and another apparently has issues about going to the bathroom in the house or something. I think Heather said she found a person that would take their dogs. Heather told us last night that the fire had so far consumed 2000 crews and was 10% contained. Several years ago we were out there to visit Heather and the air was full of smoke and ash was falling from the sky.  Between the massive fires going on in Alaska and the Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil, our global air condition must totally suck.
(And this just in: Heather just texted that they have lifted the evacuation order and the kids and their dad are just in a “warning zone”. That is super news..)

I don’t know what is on our agenda today. I know that we must start at least planning what to put in our suitcases for our vacation next week. We have our suitcases up here from the basement but that is because we didn’t take them down after the last trip. And, since we are doing another trip in October and and another in December, they won’t see the basement until after Christmas. And that’s okay. It is hard for me to get anything up and down the basement steps any more. It’s allI can do just to get me up and down those fourteen steps.

I hope your weekend goes well. Don’t forget to take time to go to your house of worship and give thanks toGod for getting you through another week. Pray for all of those folks that are and having been in the path of Dorian. May God keep them safe and be with the families that have lost everything they own and have lost family members too. Those of us who aren’t in the path can become numb to the news and that’s a shame. What affects one of us, affects all of us because wwe are all children of God. Peace.

Hello Thursday, how did you sneak by Wednesday? And a good morning to all of you or the few of you which ever fits the dynamic.

It is a 68 degree sunny morning. I’v had my breakfast and I’ve done four miles on my recumbent bike. I may do another four later today, we’ll just have to see what happens. I have some other things I need to do today and I have some writing that I want to get started on. Yesterday afternoon I finished the sermon that I was working on and finished the worship service and got that sent off to the secretary to turn not a a bulletin at some point. The sermon is for October 26th so there is no hurry. But I came up with an idea for a sermon that I guess I’ll use the first Sunday of November. That is “transformation Sunday” according to the liturgical calendar and although I did not know that, my sermon idea truly fits right along with that. (Don’t tell me that the Holy Spirit doesn’t give you nudges!)

Well, we had some disappointing news last evening, I got a call from the people that we were going to rent a vacation cabin from in June telling me that the owner of the cabin has pulled the cabin from their system. That is a real bummer. Of course she is going to refund my deposit and my insurance fee but that still leaves us scrambling for a place to do our family reunion. So, I’ve alerted the girls and they are looking and searching for a place. We are nine months out and that really is a short time since most places get booked a year out. Between us, we’ve come up with a few options but I’ll need to take a closer look at them along with Ms. Kate. Finding a place that is close enough for some to drive to and close enough to an airport for others to fly in to that will accommodate 20 of us isn’t that easy. So, I’ll be spending some time today looking at vacation homes. It’s frustrating because the place we had was really nice. It sat right on the creek in Gatlinburg, TN. Oh, well, must have not been meant to be.

That’s all for today my friends. I hope your day is filled with good things. Continue to pray for all of the people that have been devastated y Hurricane Dorian. There are at least twenty known dead that I have heard of. My heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones. And to the peopleof the Bahamas. The island was almost totally ripped apart. May God give them comfort and may we as aa nation quit bickering and hating one another long enough to do what ever we can to help these people,  

Go with God today.

Tuesday, September 3rd. I’m sitting here n the sun porch being lazy because, —- well it just seems like the thing to do. Ms. kate and I went out earlier for some lunch. It was one of those “I don’t care where we go” lunch dates. She was hungry for salad and we don’t have very many good salad bar type places around here. I mentioned two or three and we headed out. Then she said why not just go to Wendy’s, pick up a Taco salad and bring it back home. So, we went to Wendy’s, got in the drive through line and sat there; — and sat there, and sat there and didn’t move. We pulled out of line and drove to the Roca Bar, went in and had lunch. She was able to get a salad and I got a nacho plate. From there we went to the grocery store and picked up a couple of things and the bank and picked up some cash and came on home. Then we came out here in the sun porch, tried to take a nap but my IPad and IPhone kept dinging because of people trying to converse with me. So, now I’m awake, writing my blog and from here I’ll head down stairs and get back to work on the sermon I was working this morning.

Ms. Kate, bless her heart, went out to the garden and hoed around the tomatoes and pied them back up. It really looks good. But, it was hot and humid so she didn’t stay out there too long. Not only that, but the mosquitos had found her and she was being their brunch. Tomorrow she and her sister are going to Fordsville Kentucky to visit the family graves from there. Their dad was born there and there are great grandparents buried down there from her dad’s side of the family. I’ve been there and it is way out in the country.

While she is doing that, I’ll be working. Tomorrow is office hours and staff meeting. Then I’ll come home and work on some writing before going back to the church for choir practice. There’s always something to do and that’s why I enjoy moments like this when I can just sit on my butt and do nothing. Of course, I fully realize that I could be doing this all of the time if I didn’t insist on continuing to work. But I do, so I have no one to blame but myself. With that —- break time is over. Have a great evening. Peace.

Welcome to Labor Day 2019. It’s going to be a beautiful day here. Unfortunately we can’t say that for the Bahamas and the lower eastern coast of the country. Hurricane Dorian is still bearing down at a category 5 level with sustained winds of 185 miles an hour and gusts to over 200 mph. I haven’t heard of fatalities so far but have no doubt there are some. The destruction is horrible and this is a history making storm. So my prayer this morning is that people remain safe as this thing passes over or by them. I have a lot of people that I know that are in the path that the storm is expected to take. The problem most are having of course, is that as good as technology is, we really don’t know where the path will be until it happens.

As if natural disasters aren’t bad enough, we had another couple of incidents of mass shootings again this weekend. I don’tknow the details, maybe you do, but at least one involved a guy stealing a mail truck and going around randomly shooting people. I know he was eventually killed by police but not before he wounded or killed about twenty people. I can’t begin to imagine what must go through people’s minds to want to go out and randomly kill other human beings. And it appears that each one is trying to make their killing spree more ”spectacular” or memorable than the last guy. Ms. Kate and I were talking yesterday on the way to church about this. There is literally no place that is “safe” any more; not your home, not a church, not being out enjoying a vacation. You always have to wonder whether there is someone out there who has reached a breaking int in their mental stability and has decided to end their own life but first reign destruction down on someone else.  I don’t even begin to have an answer to this but an only pray that God will intervene in some way to stop it. What I do know is that more “gun laws” are not the answer. Several millennia ago, God handed down Ten Commandments and one of those was; “Thou shall not kill”. How can it get any more plain than that?

Enough of the gloom and doom. I have feeders to fill, a bike ride to do, more coffee to drink and birds to watch. Enjoy your holiday. Peace.