Dear deer

There are three young deer resting in my yard. That isn't unusual for here. Deer in town and in our yards is a common occurrence, some might even say 'nuisance'. And yes, they do leave messes and they do eat my flowers. But they are such pretty animals and having them laying in my yard, resting, brings such a sense of peace to my surroundings. After living in the hectic city for so many years, there's something soothing about being this close to the 'great outdoors' and its wildlife. Pretty tame wildlife, I admit. But soothing, nonetheless.

That doesn't happen here, does it?

BOIL WATER ADVISORY. City works crews were going door-to-door today delivering notices to all homes and businesses in town. Seems a contamination has been discovered. "E coli" was the unconfirmed rumour. Nevertheless, we're being advised to boil all our water: drinking water, water used for washing dishes, brushing teeth, washing fruits and vegetables. In other words, any water that would potentially go into the mouth. This advisory is in effect until further notice.

It's interesting to me. It takes an event like this — a temporary lack of something I take for granted — to make me appreciate how blessed we are to live in this country. We have so much — I have so much, compared to so many others around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for safe, clean water. Forgive me that my first reaction was to complain about the inconvenience. May each inconvenience only serve to strengthen my gratitude for Your goodness and the blessings I take for granted.

Alberta trip

I like road trips. There's something about driving, enjoying the scenery, stopping for a meal or a treat, and then spending the night in a hotel, that captures my interest. Even if our destination is a familiar one, I like to take a different route whenever time permits.

This was one of those times. We spent our first night in Radium Hot Springs, in a lodge overlooking the valley, with a fantastic mountain view. The sunset we observed from our balcony was spectacular. Going through the Rocky Mountains the next morning was all I had hoped it would be. Majestic, towering rocks...an awesome display of God's creativity. I took close to a hundred pictures before we reached our son's house.

After a night there, we all went to Calgary for a couple days. It is so fun to take a two-year-old to the zoo! Our grandson, Alex, is the cutest, most polite little man, with an adorable personality and wonderful smile that lights up his whole face. His daddy would hold him up to get a better view of each animal and when Alex had seen enough, he'd say, "All done." By the end of the day, he really was "all done".
I had booked a less expensive hotel the next night, wanting to save a few dollars. We were late checking in and discovered that our room had been upgraded for some reason ~ I couldn't quite understand why. But we were getting the upgraded room for the same price I had been quoted, so I just accepted that. Turns out our new room was an Executive Suite with a jacuzzi tub! Tastefully appointed, cozy, with the most comfortable sleigh bed...this was the nicest room we had on this trip and for the least amount of money! I think God was saying, "I love you, My children."

Flash Storm

It came unexpectedly and so quickly. For several days now it's been sunny and hot. We've spent a lot of time indoors with the air conditioner on because the temperature outside has been like this:

Today was another day like so many previous ones, except that today, mid-afternoon clouds began to roll in. Were we going to get the rain we'd been praying for? Rain wasn't in the forecast, but that doesn't mean anything when God is in the picture.Suddenly, an enormous dust cloud blew through town. Behind that, the rain came. Rain poured and the wind picked up furiously. The wind increased, and increased, blowing branches off of trees...little branches, then bigger branches. I watched from our back window as a couple of large branches came down over our sheds.

This one I could see from the window.

The storm lasted about 20 minutes, dropping a lot of rain and bringing the outside temperature down to about 20 degrees. I've never seen the temperature drop so much in such a short time! When the storm ended, I went outside to check out the branch that had fallen on the other side of the sheds.

Often, Nick parks his Jeep in this spot. Fortunately, it wasn't parked there this afternoon.

Nick came home a few minutes later, describing some of the mess he'd seen around town and asking me if I wanted to go for a ride to see what the storm had done. We went to the park just across the river from us, where we discovered three trees had been uprooted. Two of them were great big pine trees about 100 feet tall. I didn't have my camera with me, so we had a quick look, then came home for the camera. By the time we got back to the park a few minutes later, city work crews had already cleaned up one of the trees. But I got pictures of the bigger ones.

I've never seen anything like this before. We get wind here, but I've never seen it like this. As far as I know, no people were injured, thank God.

The storm blew through here about 4 hours ago. Now the sky has cleared, it's sunny again and it's warmed back up to 30 degrees. What a day!

Calling and Vision

Recently, I had the privilege of teaching in our church on God's calling and His vision for our lives. The way I understand it, God's call on my life is "what" He has called me to do. His vision for my life is "how" He wants me to do what He has called me to do. I believe as a Christian, it's important for me to know what it is God wants me to do in His Kingdom and how He sees me doing it. Several people may have the same calling on their lives, but the vision God has for how they are to fulfill that calling will be unique to each individual. For example, we are all called to be "ministers of reconciliation for God". But not all of us "ministers" will be pastors of a church. Some will pastor churches, while others will "minister" one-on-one. God wants to work through each individual's unique personality and giftings.In the class, we took time to wait on God, listening while He spoke to each of us about His calling and His vision for us personally. We wrote down what He told us, shared it with each other, then offered it up in prayer, coming into agreement with God about His call and vision for our lives. It was a powerful time, drawing us closer to our Lord and to each other. And we all came away with a greater sense of who God has called us to be and the vision He has of us and for us.

Choose to Rejoice

Today's Scripture
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Osteen
Joy is a tough word to pinpoint and define. Many people describe joy as an emotion or a feeling that comes over you in a great and shining moment. Sometimes joy is just the opposite of being angry, but hopefully it’s much more than that to you. Joy is not the same as happiness, because joy is what God has put in your heart, while happiness is a temporary mood that can come and go. The Bible talks about the kind of overflowing joy that rises up from deep within your heart because of what God has done for you. He keeps that spring full and flowing, which is why you can choose to live in joy today, tomorrow, and every day after. Joy like this is contagious, and the world is looking for it.

A Prayer for Today
God, I choose joy today! Thank You for placing in my heart a deep well of joy that I can draw from each day. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.