The wrens are back. Last week I tried to look inside the house for any signs of life and Tom scolded me. My scent might frighten the birds away for good, so I've tried to be patient and wait for their return. Patience and waiting paid off! Yesterday there was a wren on the porch with a small object in its mouth--don't know whether it was nest material or a bug, but the bird went into the house. There is promise of a new family and when they're all settled it will be fun to introduce the grandchildren to them.

The headline in the local paper this morning proclaimed what we all hoped: "The Drought is Over." At least it's over in West Tennessee. Right after I posted on Sunday I noticed black birds in the back yard, bathing and splashing in rainwater running across the yard and driveway. I had called the day dismal; they didn't act as if they agreed.

One thing on the "to do" list for today is to write a couple of paragraphs for information to be distributed at the annual Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network (POAMN) Conference to be held later this month. I've been mulling over what I might say on the theme, Leaving a Living Legacy. Keynote addresses and seminars will have the theme as their focus. What could I possibly add? As usual, the mulling and the writing are of more benefit to me than to those who might read my words. The dictionary I keep by my chair defines "legacy" as "personal property, money etc. bequeathed by a will; or anything received or passed on by an ancestor, predecessor or earlier era." What legacy will we leave? What do we consider valuable? Some things won't be passed on until we have passed. Those are the tangible, material things. The intangible, most valuable things are passed daily, moment by moment. We own things that came from our families, things that have come from genertations before us. They are precious; they are tangible. The most valuable, the most precious legacy passed to us is made up of values, Biblical teachings and insights, memories of those gone before us and the love they shared. That's the legacy I want to leave. As I watch Elisa sleeping in front of me, picture Christopher in his mother's arms and think of the others and what they are doing in school right now, I marvel at the special privilege we have to invest our lives in the lives of others--especially our families and those we hold dear.

Blessings ,
Pastor Margaret