Good morning and welcome to Saturday. This has been an activities stuffed week and I thought it was almost over but I just got a text that another parishioner is on the way to the ER because of a fall. I don’t know anymore than that. He lives in a nursing home and has had at least one fall a week it seems but this is the first time they have transported him. His daughter is there with him and she is a nurse so she can get a better version of the story than us civilians. 

Yesterday was one of those days where as a pastor,  you get to get to witness all of the spectrum of emotions that people have. I had a funeral first thing yesterday morning  and of course witnessed the grief that accompanied that. Then yesterday afternoon I had a wedding rehearsal for a wedding that I’m doing this afternoon. That had all of the emotions of nervousness, giddiness, tears, happiness. And now this morning, I just got a text that one of my senior parishioners fell and was taken to the ER. This is a week that just keeps on giving. 

Thursday night the area had a lot of hit and miss strong thunderstorms and even tornadoes in the area. What was amazing is that here at my house, we had some thunder and some rain, but not much. At. ,y St. Paul’s church the trees in the house next door really got torn up and rage parking lot was full of limbs. But  another parishioner lives just east of there and never heard a thing about any of it. I think we are looking at a similar scenario again today.  Hopefully it dies down some and I pray mo one gets hurt. There were lives lost over in Illinois Thursday night. 

That’s all I have for you today. I need to get on the phone and see what I can find out about my fellow at the ER. Hey, —- tomorrow is Rural Life Sunday. Give God thanks for all of our farmers and their families that keep the rest of us fed. Pray that the crops they just are planting produce a good harvest this fall. And —- today is Armed Forces Day. Pray for out military personnel in uniform and pray for their families who also sacrifice so much. 

Peace. 

 It’s Thursday morning and we are actually making our way through the week. It has been busy, busy, busy. Today will be no exception. The day is going to be a long one again concluding with a funeral visitation. But it’s all part of the job. Tomorrow we have a funeral and then later a wedding rehearsal. How’s that for the two ends of the spectrum. One person’s life come to an end and yet another couple are ready to begin a new life together. I love how God keeps it all in balance. 

I had a good day yesterday. It was visitation day and I took Holy Communion to some parishioners. I really enjoy my visitation days most of the time. However, there are times that I visit a person and they are asleep or they have been having a bad day and do nothing but complain about everything in their life. Frankly I hope I never reach a point where I have to leave my home and be in a nursing home. I’m not talking about a senior living place. My mother was in one of those and had an apartment. She was free to go and do but the place served two meals a day and it provided a safe place in case she would fall or some thing. BUt, once she had to go to the assisted living portion it was different. I look at the folks I visit and they can’t just go get a cup of coffee or a snack. They really can’t sleep in, so to speak because the meals are served at a certain time, and then they don’t have much to do except sit in their recliners and wait for the next meal. I know most nursing homes do have some activities but far too many of the residents have reached a point in their life where they just sit and stare and that’s very depressing. I’ve had parishioners that tell me they really want to die but God just won’t let it happen. Others tell me they really hope they die before they lose their mind to dementia and or Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately many don’t get their wish and each and every day must be scary because they don’t know who they are or their family is. Every experience is a new experience every tike they do it. When I see that, I’m reminded of the Drew Barrymore film, “100 First Dates” —— Well, that conversation got depressing really quick, didn’t it. 

The sun is shining and it is going to be a hot one today with a possibility of storms coming in later this evening. Hopefully it will be nothing strong. I think it is going to be close to 90 today.and the humidity is back. Sounds like a great shade-tree and lemonade day doesn’t it?

Time ti get on the road so I’ll jump off. I doubt I’ll see you tomorrow. So have a great day. Peace. 

 Good morning on a bright and sunny Tuesday morning. It is 69 degrees and the air is almost completely still. I got up early this morning for no known reason other than I woke up. The coffee is doing its job of completing the wake up process. 

I only have one thing on my agenda this morning. I’m meeting Pastor Shane from my home church and pastor Art and we’re going over to New Harmony for lunch. We had planned to eat lunch at the Red Geranium restaurant but found out it is closed M-T-W so I reckon we will go to The Yellow Tavern for lunch. I checked out their website and they have some good looking food pictured. The cakes and pies look really good. Art and Shane are both “dyed in the wool” Baptist so we will see if they survive walking into a tavern. Maybe they have been around me enough to gain some “sinner protection”. LOL. Hey — nobody says it’s wrong to go there to eat, —- well, my mother would have said that; — especially if I ordered a beer with my lunch. Anyway —- Art and I want to show Shane around New Harmony and introduce him to the uniqueness of that little town. It was in its beginning a Rappite Community something like the Oneida Society. Like many religious communities, it failed when its focus changed to being more of a commune than a religious society. That’s what happens when your focus changes to worldly things. 

I started and finished my Memorial Day service yesterday. As promised, it did mean a day in the basement but I had the work to do so I stayed at it. Today I have to finish the funeral service I preparing for Friday. I’ve been waiting for input from the family and finally received it late last night. I already have everything including the homily done. I just needed stuff for the eulogy. A couple of the grandchildren wish to speak at the funeral so we will see how that turns out. Some people do very well with speaking at the funeral of their loved one. Others get up there and their emotions take over and they lose it. 

Time to go shower and get ready to meet the preachers. Have yourself a wonderful \and fully blessed day. Peace. 

 Days like this are rare. The weather is absolutely perfect. It is 69 degrees outside with only a slight breeze. The sky is perfectly blue and cloud free. I’m sitting here in the Sunporch watching the black birds decimate my feeder, (who invited them?) and this is the only day this week that I have nothing on my calendar for the next seven days. And guess who gets to sit ion his basement and write. I’m very tempted to take my lap top and go sit under a tree to do my writing. But that would not only be a hassle to set up but would also be too much of a distraction because I’d be sitting there looking around and not get a thing done. So, “Yes, master, I’ll return to the dungeon.” LOL

We had a good services yesterday at each church. There were a lot of folks missing I think due to the planting season. Or, maybe they were just out and about and taking advantage of a beautiful day. I don’t know. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m not much different than a restaurant owner; don’t worry about the customers that aren’t there, — just feed the ones that do show the best meal you know how to prepare. 

After my late service yesterday the ladies of the church had their annual Mother/Daughter gathering. \\They used to be called Mother/ Daughter Banquets and would be held at night with a program and games and speaker. But, the younger generation has assumed responsibility for the program and yesterday was a “luncheon”. At least they haven’t let the program die out. I remember when churches had one or more different groups of ladies and men’s groups. But today’s society are no longer “joiners” and programs like that have died out across the spectrum. —- Anyway, I decided that I was going to go have lunch at one of our favorite places there in Ft. Branch. But — I got there and it was absolutely packed; no place to park and a line out the door. My suspicion is that since it is high school and college graduation time that there were probably large groups have it celebration parties. So, I went around the corner to the next place and viola’ it was the same way. So, I went to Dairy Queen and had a hamburger basket with a small sundae. I probably saved myself $10. After I picked up Ms. Kate we went home and it was Sunday nap time, (always a favorite around here). 

Yesterday evening I actually took time to watch a movie on my television. I don’t know the last time I have done that. I sometimes turn the TV on when I’m down there working and will maybe stop and watch a certain show for a half hour or an hour, but to purposely sit and watch a movie is rare. BUt — that of course meant that I wasn’t getting the work done that I needed to do so after the movie I got busy. I finished up about 0130 but completed my service for this coming Sunday as well as creating the slides for the screen. Today, I start on my service and message for the 29th of May. It will be a Memorial Day themed service and message. That sounds like it should be fairly easy to prepare but I’m sure I’ll find someway to make it difficult. 

Having said that — it is time to get on to my task of the day. This is Monday and God has given you and me a brand new week. Make the best of it. Peace. 

 I’m stiff and sore this morning from doing a lot more outside work yesterday than I intended to. But, you know how it is. One thing always seems to led to another and suddenly you are at a point where it is a struggle to go back in the house. That was mu yesterday. But, the yard looks good, the trimming looks good. The garden looks good and i have to new very large flower pots established and Wave Petunias planted in them. I tried something different with the new pots. I saw a post that someone had put on Facebook about adding nutrients into the soil. So I filled the pots half way and then I put a half dozen raw expired eggs in each one and cracked the shells, The video that I had seen showed a guy planting his tomatoes and he put a raw egg in the bottom of the hole. The y show the difference between the tomato with the egg and the tomato without out the egg and there was a remarked difference. So —- I reckon we will see what happens. I told Ms. Kate that I was planting chicken seeds so we could raise baby chicks. She said something about me being a “dork”. I wonder what she meant. 

So today, I’m planning to remove the two azaleas in one of my back flower beds. It really aggravates me that I need to do that. Here’s a long story, — kept long. About three years ago we got a notice from the water / sewer department that they were going to be replacing the sewer lines that run between the houses at the rear of our property. They said that we (everyone) had to make sure that the easement was clear of fencing and bushes etc. They said that if we didn’t do it ourselves they would do it but would not replace anything that was on the actual easement. Former owners of our place had put up a white picket fence at the edge of the property which was inside of the easement. I had since rebuilt it because it was rotting and I built it in the same place. Ms. kate and I decided that if the city had to removed the fence, —- okay. But we knew they would not replace or replant shrubs. So I hired a guy @ $500.00 to move those two large azalea bushes. They have since died. So, today, I’m going to cut them back and dig them up. Lots of wasted money and  wasted energy but it needs to be done. Fortunately, they aren’t planted all that deep and once I get them cut back they will be much easier to dig up —- I hope. 

The writing is going slow on my sermon for next week. The theme for the church is Rural Life Sunday which one would thing would be fairly simple to write; — but, not so much. I keep getting off on rabbit trails and having to reign myself back in to a central thought. 

So, that’s it for this beautiful; Saturday morning. It is 10:00 am and the temp is already at 84. Gonna be a hot one today. Have a blessed weekend. Peace. 

 Friday the 13th! Do you feel “unlucky” today? Are you superstitious? I didn’t actually think about it until I saw the calendar on my screen so I reckon it’s too late to crawl back in bed and hide. Bring it on!!

You know, —- I’m supposed to be at least “semi-retired” but I don’t seem to have time to get stuff done that I need to do. It has been one of those weeks and next week doesn’t promise to be any better. I’ve been busy trying to get a funeral planned, get a young couple ready for their wedding, write my sermon, develop the worship service, plant some garden, weed a flowerbed, attend a funeral of a friend, keep my yard mowed and trimmed, help Ms. Kate with laundry and make some phone calls to parishioners and do some visitation. I’m my own worst boss and time manager sometimes. So, when I forget to write my blog like I have several times recently, just know my brain is probably in a different room than my body. 

I wish you could all see our flowers we have here at the house. The iris are blooming and we have so many varieties. The peonies are really coming into their own and the azaleas are blooming beautifully as are the poppies, blue bells, clematis, and roses. The place really looks beautiful. It won’t last too much longer though. Pretty soon all of the daffodils will start falling over and will dry out and look ugly for awhile. You don’t cut them off until they are dried out. Then the iris are going to be past it and will have to be pinched back and then cut back. Raising flowerbeds is an awful lot of work but the reward is a few weeks of joy as I walk around my yard. It’s worth every bit of the effort. 

Can you believe the price of gas? I went out a couple of days ago to get gas for my lawnmowers and decided to take my truck because it was getting down to a quarter of a tank. I filled up my can and then filled up the truck —- $80.00. I couldn’t believe it. I have never had to pay that kind of money to fill up my truck. I don’t drive it often so a tank full will last me a long time; but —— just wow!!! Then I went to fill up my Prius and it cost me another $40.00. Thank goodness it get 53 mpg, but I make a lot of trips and thee tank is only I think a ten gallon tank. And I just read this morning that there is going to be a diesel fuel shortage on the east coast for the next few weeks. If you think the supply chain is bad now — just wait. How in the world did this country get into this bad of shape??? I know lots of people blame the president but there is far more going on than just him being an idiot. I have no idea where to even start placing blame and thee fact of the matter is that placing blame doesn’t make things any better. It just makes us angry and gives us someone to “hate”. What I do know is that prayer is a solution\. It won’t bring the price of gas down, but it will give us the patience to deal on a daily basis with the chaos the world is experience in right now. 

Oh well, I have bird feeders to fill and other stuff to do.  Have yourself a great Friday the 13th. Stay away from ladders and black cats!!! Peace. 

 Hello Tuesday, how ya’ been? Yes, I know it’s afternoon but I have been just a bit busy these days.  We’ve been busy trying to find out what is causing Ms. Kate to feel so bad. We had doctor’s appointment on Thursday, I think I may had told you that. Well, the doctor made some changes to her medication and ordered a new prescription for her. For Tri-Care purposes for new prescriptions that may be a one time thing, we have to go through Walgreens. Well, we waited allof Friday, — no meds but I got a text from Walgreens saying the prescription was delayed, waiting the doctor for information. We hear this Friday afternoon and of course the doctor’s office by now has closed for the weekend which means that there is no way they are going to hear from him for the weekend, which means that Kate can’t start with the new medication until at least Monday. Well, yesterday morning I called Walgreens and was told again that they were waiting on the doctor. So, Kate called our doctor’s office and they knew nothing about it and they called Walgreens. Believe it or not —- the issue Walgreens was waiting on was that the prescription was for 30 days and they wanted to know if it was supposed to be for 90 days!!! The doctor told them to fill it for 30 now and then they will order one for 90\. It wasn’t five minutes after that call that I got a new text from Walgreens saying her meds were ready for pick up. Grrrrrrrr! The good news is that now she is doing better. 

The bad news is that because she was feeling \so bad, we didn’t dare take her over to Louisville for our daughter Julie’s graduation from IU. I took Kate to her sister’s house to stay and I went over to \the graduation. It was a lovely event. We are so very proud of her. That girl has always had a job, often two or sometimes three, has raised a wonderful so and been a great homemaker. She started out as a young teenager, like many military kids bagging groceries for tips at the base commissary and has worked ever since. For the last “X” number of years she has been managing College Bookstores.  I think the only time she has not held a job was when she was in Turkey with her husband who was in the Air Force. But as she posted last night on Facebook —“it’s been 37 years since she graduated from high school, but she finally has graduated from college.”  She is the perfect example of what you can do if you are determined enough and have the drive to succeed no matter how long the journey. Last night she said she is going to check to the tuition reimbursement of her company and possibly start on her graduate degree. She makes me tired!

I spent the night in Louisville and then came on home this morning, picked up Ms.Kate and we went out to BJ’s for lunch. And then —- it was nap time. Now, I’m up and have stuff to get busy doing. So, have yourself a wonderful  afternoon and evening. Peace.