"The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away."

The printer is busily spitting out copies of The Palace Press, another deadline come and being met, I can't say "gone" just yet. Not until the printer has stopped and the letter delivered. That's another day.

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On the way to church this a.m., I pulled into Sonic to get a drink for at church. On the window was a notice posted saying after July 1, Sonic would no longer be having the Morning Drink discount, only the Happy Hour between 2 and 4 p.m. Rats! I guess when I go in the afternoons I'll have to buy two in order to make up for the one missed in the morning! Half price is half price, what can you say?

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As I headed on down Wells, I saw a couple cars coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road, and not at the light. The one is my lane moved along but I could see the driver and passenger of the pick-up getting out and looking around. Sure 'nuff, there was a tiny black kitten scooting around underneath the truck. It snuggled up to the back tire and when the driver mouthed to me, "Where is it?" as I carefully passed, I gestured toward the back tire. In my mirror I could see them on hands and knees, trying to grab the kitten. All that for a cat, and I can't give mine away!!! And a man at church today asked me if I wanted a couple cats.......

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Speaking of cats-----Friday I got busy cleaning the cat box, and I mean cleaning it, with soap, water and paper towels. Tell me again why it was so important the kids have pets??????? All those promises, all those assurances that someone other than me would be taking care of them......the last thing I needed or wanted was something else requiring attention in my life. At least I'm down to only one cat now, with a once spotless cat box!

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Back to church---I got there in time for the beginning of Bible study, as we continue our brief visits to a "Dark Days, Bright Son" series. The lesson this week was the prophet Nehemiah and his being led to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. One of the last verses we read regarded the dedication of the temple, and I loved it so much, I used it as the title of today's posting. We don't rejoice loud enough very often, do we?

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We did sing rather nicely in worship today. It was Favorite Hymn Sunday and was especially wonderful because Robbie played the entire service on the organ! He could emphasize the final stanzas and all that "fun" stuff possible on the organ. I about hugged the stuffings out of him after church, but had to stand in line to do it! Many were praising his playing and he accepted with thanks, but then directed it back to the Lord. The only hymn I couldn't sing out on was "Now the Light Has Gone Away", which just blows me away for a couple reasons, not the least of which was it served as a night time prayer for the boys. Stanza 3 knocks it out of the ballpark: "Let my near and dear ones be always near and dear to thee; oh, bring me and all I love to thy happy home above."