January 14th; time to start thinking about Valentine's Day options. You only have a month. 

It’s really turned cold outside and I saw three snow flakes a few minutes ago. It isn’t supposed to amount to anything here, but of course up north they are going to get another bunch. I’m so glad I live in southern Indiana. Most of the time our weather is more of a nuisance than anything else. 

I went for session one of my teeth deep cleaning yesterday. It wasn’t bad to go through. They cleaned the right side on my gums, upper and lower. The worst past was getting the numbing injections and even that wasn’t all that bad because my technician made sure the topical numbing was good before she did the injection. I appreciated that. I go back on February 18th and have the left side done. Unfortunately, the dentist said I have the beginnings of a cavity on one tooth and he wants to take care of that on February 3rd. Kate and I are very lucky in that we have not had to spend a lot of money on dental work over the years. We both believe it is incredible important to take care of our teeth and we are lucky enough to be able to afford it when we need it. We have a dental insurance plan through the government but it really doesn’t seem to cover very much. But, it’s better than nothing. I smile every time I think about old people being able to keep their teeth their whole life. I remember my grandma and my mother always saying “Well, I still have my teeth!” It seemed to be a sense of pride for them. 

The contractors working on the house across the street have begun laying new brick. It’s a cold day for it but it needs to be done. I’m assuming that cold weather doesn’t affect the process. Their house is sure going to look different when they finish. I hope they love it. They have been out of it since the fire last January. I think I’ll walk down and take a look at how far they have gotten as I take the trash cans to the street. Got to be nosey ya’ know. 

I have a couple of sermons resting on Google Docs that I should maybe work on and have them ready should I get called to do a supply sermon sometime. Kate had a call from an old friend today wanting to know if I was still preaching or had a church because their church was now without a pastor due to retirement for health reasons. Kate told her friend that I was available for supply work but was not interested in doing an interim job. She gave them my cell phone number. We’ll see if anyone calls. I would love to fill in for them once in awhile but I’m not up to doing full time pastoral work any more as much as I think I could. One must be realistic. 

That’s it for today. In case you forgot; it’s HUMP DAAAAAAY!  Enjoy yourself. 

 Good morning on this the 13th day of January . We have another fairly nice day that promises to degrade rapidly tonight. But, I’ll take 45 nor now especially since it is supposed to continue on up to 58 before the day is over. 

We have cardinals and bluebirds out at the buffet and unfortunately we also have junkets too. Don’t get me wrong, the Junkets are cute and I like them but they are always a precursor to snow or so it seems. Hence, they are often called “snowbirds”. And yes, we do have flurries in the forecast and several days of cold weather coming up again through the weekend. 

Today I have an appointment with my dental technician that I’m not looking forward to. She is going to do the first part of my “deep cleaning”. It will require that she numb my mouth to do it. They do it in four appointments. Today I guess they are doing the right lower jaw. According to the internet, the appointment could take two hours. That’s a long time to be in a dentist’s chair. I think I have a total of three appointments to get this done. Not getting it done can cause loss of the jaw bone material. I guess I better grill these steaks for lunch and plan on Ramen for supper. LOL

I read this morning that my former parish will be discussing leaving the United Church of Christ denomination at their upcoming winter meetings. I guess I need to process this in my brain for a bit. I can certainly understand their logic and frankly I have mentally left the denomination some time ago because I can no longer tolerate the radical liberal stance they take on so many social issues. However that parish goes back to 1876 and they are walking away. I just think it is sad that the denomination has “left them”. I think they will face some unknown challenges certainly. And their pastor is very young with a lot of hope but not a lot of experience in taking two churches out on their own. I urge you to join me in praying for them. They are going to need a lot of prayer. 

I guess I better go get the grill started for lunch. Have yourself a wonderful day. Peace. 

 Welcome to Monday and the start of another week. It’s not a bad day here today. Temperature is hanging out in the upper forties today which is our winter average.We have a lot of sunshine which always helps with the “feels like” stuff. 

We just got back from an errand run. Kate and I changed the sheets on our bed this morning and we decided to get rid of the comforter from our bed. We have a program at church where we collect clandestine and towels for the local animal shelters to use. I know some puppy will enjoy snuggling up in that down comforter and the other blanket we decided to take too. This is the first time I have heard of this kind of a need and I think it is great. 

We had a quiet weekend here. We did “recliner church” again this weekend. Yes, I think we would have done fine going in person but it was 17 degrees yesterday morning and we just didn’t want to get out in it. It’s not like we are missing church because we faithfully watch it. In fact I not only listen to our church but often I listen to two other churches services too on a Sunday. I listen to the young pastor that replaced me in Ft. Branch Parish but I also listen to daughter Lisa’s pastor in North Carolina. He usually has a good service although he tends to preach longer sermons than I do. I usually am done in twenty minutes and Pastor Bill goes for at least 30 minutes. Pastor Adam, up in Ft. Branch goes longer than me too. I’m supposed to fill in for him the week of February 1st. The folks will probably appreciate getting a “short sermon” again for a change. Nothing at all wrong with longer sermons as long as you keep them interesting. Kate will tell you that if I start going long it’s because I’ve gotten off on a rabbit trail somewhere. 

 I’m happy to report that Ms. Kate just keeps getting better. She is mostly using her cane now instead of the rollator. She told me this morning that I could put the walker up now because she isn’t using it. We don’t take them with us now when we make excursions out like we did this morning. That’s great for me because it is a booger to get in and out of the trunk. 

That’s it for this Monday. Have a blessed day. 

 Hello January 9th. Nice to see you back again especially since you brought your friend “nice weather”. We’re sitting at 61 degrees right now with sunny skies and very little wind. We had a storm role through last night with a lot of wind and rain. The bottom is supposed to drop back up before the weekend is over so everything is as it should be. 

I don’t have any gossip to spread nor a lot of actual news tell. We did have one great event today. Today was Ms. Kate’s hair appointment and she was able to go with only relying on her cane. That is such a giant leap for her. I really hope she can get away from that rollator. But she’s responding very well to the pain management routine. It’s a lot of prayers answered. I can see her getting stronger every day. We haven’t made it back to the gym yet but hopefully by next week. Had to make a couple of Shopping runs in the past few days. We did Sam’s the other day and today we did Walmart. I really like the call and pick up program. It saves us a lot of time and effort. And —- by not going in the stores we only get what is on the list and don’t pick up any of those “eye catcher” items. We don’t have to grocery shop while we’re hungry and end up buying stuff that’s we really didn’t need. 

I’ve been watching the neighbors house rebuild progress. There has been electricians over there all week. I assume they had to have the entire electrical wiring done since it was an electrical fire that started it. Monday they had a guy out there tearing up the old sidewalk and a flowerbed. They have relocated the front door so they will need a new sidewalk to that. It’s interesting to see the progress being made. I wish I could peek inside and see what they are doing. But then, I have never been in that house so I don’t really know what it looked like before the fire. But I know they have made major changes to what the layout used to look like. They have been told they will be in by February 26th. I will be very surprised if that comes about. 

I’m currently working on what I call a “pocket sermon” which is what I call a sermon that I write ahead just in case someone needs me to fill in at the last moment. My friend Art says he is constantly writing sermons in his sleep. LOL I guess it is true that old pastors never truly quit. 

That’s it for today. The weekend is here and I hope your is fulled with blessings. Don’t neglect to take time for God. 

 Here it is, the 7th of January. In our neck of the woods it is going to be a fairly good day; I think maybe it is going to about 55 degrees which is not terrible for a January day. But, it’s not gong to last long. By this weekend we’re expecting maybe some severe storms and then the temps drop back down “normal”. But as long as we don’t get a bunch of snow or wore — ice — it doesn’t matter to me a lot. We are still three weeks from “Groundhogs Day” when that rodent will tell us that we have six more weeks of winter coming. Amazing how its prediction always happens to line up with the actual calendar first days of Spring. 

We “did a thing” yesterday. We had to pick up a prescription from Walgreens and also needed to do a call and pickup order from Sam’s. Also since it was Tuesday and Fresh Market always has ground chuck on sale on Tuesday, I wanted to go by there and get some of that. I used the last of what we had when I made my vegetable soup. So —- I told Ms. Kate I would take her out to Biaggi’s for lunch. It’s a favorite of hers and she has been getting around much better, and Biaggis is writhing the same area as Sam’s and Fresh Market. So, we went to Walgreens and picked up her medication and then headed to the east side of town and did all of our other stuff. It was the first time we have been able to go out to eat since before Thanksgiving. We considered it a real treat and she did well. The hardest part is the getting the rollator in and out of the car each time. I’m hoping that before long she can get to just getting by with a cane. We’re also hoping that we can get to the gym. I don’t know how Planet Fitness would feel about us going in there with her on a rollator. But when I think about it, they shouldn’t mind because it is physical therapy and we are working to improve her wellness. 

Have you noticed that television is coming back to “normal programming?” Swamp People is on tonight and some of my other favorites are coming back too. Kate watches so many shows that I just can’t watch. She likes murder mystery and crime shows and I just got tired of those years ago. And, she’s been watching some “series” shows on Netflix that have more violence than I want to see.  I like to keep my shows much more light and interesting to watch.  I watch a lot of the paranormal stuff because it is simply entertainment, and I know there is little reality attached to it. And I watch a lot of Josh Gates exploring shows. I have learned a lot of historical facts watching him. 

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoy your day and have a blessed rest of your week. Peace. 

 Good morning on this first day of the first full week of 2026. Yes, I know it’s been a few days since I wrote last but I’ve been a bit tied up doing “other stuff”. 

How was your weekend? Ours was routine since Ms. Kate is still not going out for much of anything. I had hoped to do “in person” church yesterday but it was 26 degrees and I didn’t want Kate to have to walk behind her rollator the distance from the parking lot to the ramp and then push it up the ramp. I do appreciate the church putting in that new ramp though. When she gets a little stronger we will be happy to use it. 

But, yes, we had a routine weekend that consisted of doing laundry, and fixing meals, watching some tv and playing our mindless computer games on our IPads. We did get out to the butcher shop. I picked up some frozen vegetables and I made a pot of vegetable soup.  It is delicious if I do say so myself. (Kate said so too). I’m getting better with my cooking although most everything I fix is simple stuff and I don’t do a lot of “meals” meaning multiple dishes. Mainly I just do no more than two dishes. I’ve watched Kate cook for many years now and she may have six dishes going at once. I guess most wives do that but it has to be an acquired skill that I’m far from learning. Although I did good at Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I did have some help from Julies and a lot of guidance from Ms. Kate. I don’t hesitate to ask Kate “how do I” questions. I think though that I’m no longer a candidate for “Worse Cooks in America”. LOL

We watched the Rose Bowl game this year. It was the first football game I have watched this year. We watched it because IU was playing and were thrilled to see IU win. They will be playing in the Sugar Bowl this Friday and I reckon we will watch that too. 

I finished up my sermon for February 1st. I think it is a good one. I also passed it along to my friend and mentor Art and he said it was great just like it is with no need for changes. It always means a lot to me when he declares one of my sermons “good”. He has been a pastor well over fifty years, has a Doctorate of Ministry degree and knows more than I will ever know about the Bible. I ask him to critique my sermons sometimes because I want my theology to be on point. I feel it is very arrogant of a pastor to just assume that he has the right interpretation of God’s word. Assumption can lead a pastor to preach his own thoughts, not God’s thoughts or word. I try to never assume. 

I was hoping that Kate and I would go to the gym today but she isn’t ready. I would like us to start slow again and work our way back up. 

I guess that is about all I have for today. I’m waiting on a call or text from Walgreens telling me that Kate’s prescription is ready for pickup. She has one more day of that particular medicine left. 

Have yourself a wonderful week. Peace. 

 Day one of the year 2026.  How was your New Year’s Eve? Ms. Kate and I did stay up and see the birth of 2026 but being up at midnight is a fairly routine habit for us. She and I have shared a lot of New Year’s Eves over the years starting with the 1963 new year. In the early years though, while we were together at midnight, we didn’t get to have that “first kiss of the year” at midnight because I was busy with my band playing Auld Lange Sign on my trumpet as we played for someone’s NYE party. Then there were the years that I was stationed with the Air Force somewhere else across the world like the Philippines or Turkey without her. Or — many times we were “together”, but I was on duty as the shift commander for the Security Police. But —- physically together or not, —- we still have celebrated many, many years of watching a new year arrive whether we were together or not. 

I was thinking about the celebration of New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve and wondered if mankind has always celebrated this vent. It turns out that the answer is “yes”. The earliest documented celebrations are dated back over 4000 years to Mesopotamia. There are many ancient sites built specifically for celebrating the event along with other solstice event. The rituals have changed over the years, (thank goodness, we don’t need any sacrificial rituals) but the acknowledgement is still real.  

While I was pondering that, I also began thinking about the actual event itself. What we are actually celebrating is the completion of the earth’s orbit around the sun. It is a renewal of seasons and patterns of growth and changes of weather patterns etc that have gone on forever even before God created man. So let’s think about that for a moment to get your year started. Many religious groups (creationists) will argue that the earth is 6000 years old. I don’t agree with them nor do I know where they get that number. Other people, (the evolutionists) will argue that the earth may be at least as old as ten million years. I don’t have a lot of faith in that number either but will grant them their belief. The point is that whether the earth is 6000 years or ten million years old, it means that the earth has completed that same trip around the sun at 67,100 miles per hour without deviation for the entire existence of this planet. Now, (bear with me) add to this the fact that each and everyone of those years has had 365 periods of  planet rotation at 1000 miles and hour, again without deviation, for the entire existence of the planet. Explain to me how all of that perfection can happen without Devine intervention. Tell me how all of that perfection can happen by accident or as the result of a “big bang” out in the chaos of the cosmos. 

And you know what? That same God cares intimately about you. If you have not developed a relationship with God, please do so today. Peace