Birds of Prey

Yesterday, while making jam, I had to retrieve something from the kitchen pantry and just happened to look out the back door into our back yard. On our pool cover was what I believe to be a hawk. We don't see birds of prey around here much and I have never seen one in our yard before. It was beautiful! It was getting a drink from a puddle caused by a leak in our pool cover.

It was hard to get a good picture because I knew I couldn't go outside without scaring him away.

Soon, another one showed up and landed on the diving board. It stayed a few seconds, but then flew away.

I decided to exit the front door and sneak through the side gate into the back yard to try to get a better picture than I could get from inside the house. It worked, but not for long. The hawk got spooked and flew away. It was nice while it lasted, though.

I am grateful for nature. God has created many wonderful animals for us to enjoy in this beautiful world of his. These hawks really brightened my day.

First World Problems

There is an old wives tale that bad things come in threes. I'm starting to believe it.

Bad thing #1

Alan has been having trouble with his 17 year old car "Ralph" (Lexus). Every time he starts it after it has been sitting for a while it emits an extremely loud screeching noise. It is very embarrassing! I timed it once about a week ago and the screech lasted for 45 seconds! Even a member of Alan's office staff has complained about it. She can hear it from the second floor of the building when Alan leaves the parking lot. We know what the problem is and will get it fixed tomorrow. We had to wait a while for a part to arrive.

Bad thing #2

I found a water leak under our kitchen sink and Alan discovered that it was the garbage disposal that was leaking. We had to purchase a new one and call the plumber to replace the old one. We had to wait 5 days for the repair to be done, but the good thing is that we have two garbage disposals so we could still dispose of our waste. The bad thing is that we weren't able to use that sink until the repair was made.

Bad thing #3

The same day the garbage disposal went out, so did our microwave oven. It had been making a funny noise for many weeks, so I wasn't surprised that it basically burned itself up while Alan was trying to heat up a cookie. Smoke started emanating from it. It was so smelly! It took about three days to get rid of the burned smell in the house.  It took three trips to various stores in our area before we finally found a microwave that would fit in our built-in spot. We wanted to get a Kitchen Aid so it would match all of our other Kitchen Aid appliances, but we couldn't find one so we ended up getting a Panasonic.

I really like that the inside is grey instead of white.

This microwave is a higher wattage than we have ever had before so we have to be careful while heating our food, but I am extremely happy with it. 

So there you have it...bad things really do come in threes. Let's hope that this is the end of our series of bad events. 

In reality, however, these really are first world problems. Very minor, indeed, and easy to handle. I'm grateful for that and I'm grateful for the means to be able to make repairs like this without even feeling the pinch. We are very blessed!

Confirmation of the Spirit - or An Instrument In The Lord's Hands

Last Sunday, Alan and I were the speakers for a fireside at Church for the 31 and older single brothers and sisters. We were allowed to pick any subject we wanted and we only had a week to prepare for it. Since I was going to be out of town helping Cheryl with Kessler from Monday - Wednesday which would limit my preparation time, we decided to present the same PowerPoint we gave a few years ago for the young single adults. The topic was on self-esteem. I spent quite a bit of time changing and fine-tuning my portion of the presentation.

Right before leaving our home to set up for the fireside, I said a prayer (one of many) asking for Father's help in presenting our PowerPoint and asked that the spirit would be with me to remember the remarks I planned to make and to not be nervous. I also inquired of the Lord asking him if the subject of self-esteem was right for this group. I knew it was too late to change the subject, but I was just seeking a confirmation of the spirit for my own personal peace of mind. I also prayed that the subject would be well received by those attending. Immediately, the spirit spoke to me telling me that the subject was perfect and that there was someone who would be attending who really needed that message.

After the fireside was over and we had packed away our projector, computer, table cloths, extension cords, etc., an older sister (named Tink), whom I have known for over 25 years, walked up to Alan and I with the use of her walker and told us the following story:

She said that she had been having a very "down" day and that she hadn't planned to attend the fireside. At the last minute, she called a friend for a ride. [Because of her poor health, she can no longer drive.] She told us that she was glad she came because she said our message took her from being down "here" (indicated by her arm extended about to her knees) to "here" as she raised her arm up high. She was getting teary eyes telling us this and couldn't say any more. I gave her a quick hug and told her I was so glad that she came. Being embarrassed to cry in front of us, she walked away quickly...or as quickly as someone with a walker can.

This was a testimony to me that the Lord knows the wants and needs of each of his children individually. I feel we were prompted to present the fireside on that particular subject just for her, although I know others benefited from it also judging from the kind remarks of many who approached us after it ended.

I'm so glad we were able to help Tink have a better ending to her "down" day than she had at the beginning of it. Her self-esteem must have been pretty low when she arrived, but thanks to the spirit, she was touched and felt much better afterwards. 

I love being an instrument in the Lord's hands!