"I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did." ~ Yogi Berra

Good morning and welcome. It is Tuesday, April 9, 2019, and we are off and running on another busy day ahead of us. We have the ladies Bible study meeting in our home this morning. That always means getting everything ship-shape and also I need to find something to occupy my time while the ladies do whatever it is they do. The wife chose a very deep theological study for this go around and they have had to burn some midnight oil in filling in their workbooks. The material is all about using study techniques to examine The Scriptures more closely. I have been helping the wife some and it is very good material but takes some study to get it. Mr. Bentley is at the vet today. He has three surgical procedures to deal with. The main one is the neutering procedure. They will also fix his 'cherry eye' and do something about all the hair in his ears. He goes in at 7 a.m. and we won't get him back until after 5 p.m., or later. At least he won't have to camp out with me here in The Home Office, although, he might prefer that option given the day he has before him. I may go and walk the Mall since I haven't done that much at all since Mr. Bentley arrived. He has provided both of us with some decent exercise because he likes to run and when he runs, the one holding the other end of the leash has to jog some as well.

I'm also on stand-by for the closing on mom's and dad's house and property. The lawyer and those handling the financing for our niece are working out the final details and preparing the paperwork. I will then drive over to Leesville, Louisiana, to sign off on the sale. This has been a fairly long drawn out process. But, based on what I hear from others, it's mostly that way with these types of transactions. It will be interesting to see what the final legal costs are. Let's hope we don't get sticker shock on that one. We will see. And, oh yeah, I am still preparing to prepare to get ready to mail my tax return and my check to the IRS. I thought it might be good to check one more time to see if Mr. Bentley can qualify as a dependent. Just joking. I do owe a $109.00 penalty for not having paid more in but I've gotten used to that one. Our profile should change some next year and I will wait to see what impact that has on our filing. My point? Don't think to be retired means you don't have a lot of stuff to do. I've learned this already. And, no, I haven't spent anytime yet in my hammock. Since you asked, I don't even have a hammock. That pretty much takes care of that one.

I was able to fill in the teaching responsibility this past Sunday morning for a different class at our local fellowship. I told several in our class that I had been asked to teach some young people. The class I taught is targeted for those 50 to 60 years old. Their teacher, a retired senior pastor, was away to attend a baby dedication for one of his grandchildren. Our regular class is much older than these folks. In fact, one couple was celebrating their 37th wedding anniversary. I joined in the congratulations, "That's really good, you kids keep working at it." We had a good lesson. The reason it was good is because we studied The Bible, The Word of God. That's right. Straight from the Book itself. Different setting. Different folks. Same truths. You can never improve on the Bible because God Himself through His Spirit provides the application to each heart. At any rate, we finished encouraging these young folks, attended worship, and then drove home in a rainstorm. I know when one drives in a blizzard they encounter a whiteout, but, I'm not sure what you call it when it is raining so hard you can't see much at all. I think I've used the word blinding before. That pretty much described that 30-minute drive. We did make it home, praise the Lord, and a minor miracle was underway. Our satellite was still working and I was able to watch most of the NASCAR race from Bristol, Tennessee. (I missed parts of it when I fell asleep.) Typically, our satellite takes a hike if they even predict partly cloudy skies. I also pause to thank God we didn't suffer the impacts prevalent in this series of thunderstorms where much wind damage and flooding occurred. I did not hear of any injuries but much property damage was incurred. Take care, now, you hear? May God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.