12

Trees full of robins right before the snow storm.

11

Disappointed at not finding any geese on the 21st Street pond, or deer on the Haslets' property, or being allowed to take pictures of the sunset in Franklin Park because they were closing at 5:00 today instead of at dark, my friend and I drove down the side streets of an adjacent housing development, searching for an unobstructed view of the setting sun.

We found a great spot in a cul-de-sac overlooking a semi-frozen lake, and no sooner had we parked when we saw dozens and dozens of loudly honking geese flying overhead towards it. Some landed on the water and started swimming, and others sat or walked on the ice.  

Usually I can't focus fast enough to capture flying birds, but there were so many, it would have been almost impossible not to.

How quickly things can turn around.

Not only did we get tons of pictures of geese, but we got some awesome pictures of the sunset as well.

8, 9, 10

Grace was having my granddaughter and her husband came over to help me with my heavy duty cleaning chores, and the chores too high for me to reach--like cleaning vents and light fixtures.

Grace was the reassurance that I'm not getting as "senior" as I think I am, when my granddaughter couldn't clean the burner on my stove any better than I had been able to, and when her hubby was just as stumped by my logic puzzle as I was.

Grace was what suddenly opened my eyes to what I had missed all along, and enabled me to solve the puzzle everyone else had given up on, and I almost had too.

7

 ^"And we know that in all things God works
 for the good of those who love him, who 
have been called according to his purpose."
(Romans 8:28)

That is truly what happened today when I called the phone company to find out if there would be a penalty for breaking my contract with them.  

I told them that I was very upset because my phone was dead and when I had reported it to the service department, I had been told it would take two days before a lineman could come out to fix the problem.  Considering how high my bill was every month, and how slow my Internet connection, this was just the last drop in the bucket.  It was time for change.

And here's the glimpse of God's grace.  The exasperating circumstance that led to the phone call had a silver lining.  I discovered that the company now has high speed Internet that's double what was available when I signed up several years ago, and they offered to upgrade my connection and rebundle my package for $15 a month less than I am paying now.  Sweet! 

6

Normally, when it's this cold and the snow's been sitting on my car for a couple of days, it gets hard and packed down, and is really difficult to sweep off.  Usually a good deal of scraping is called for too, so I gave myself extra time for the much dreaded chore.  To my surprise, though, it was powdery soft, and brushed off as easy as could be.

5

Fresh snow, so clean and beautiful. Standing at my window, watching it fall, makes me grateful for my warm and comfy apartment.

4

Today the Lord sent me three very timely Divine appointments.

The first one was at the gas station, my first stop of the morning.  As I was standing there trying to figure out what the problem with the pump was, an attendant came out of the office, figured it out for me, and then proceeded to pump my gas.  That's the first time anyone has pumped my gas (other than in states like NJ where they still do that) in maybe 15 years.

Then I went into town to run some errands.  Last stop was Costco, where I stocked up on groceries, and one of the boxes wound up being heavier than what I was strong enough to lift out of the cart.  As I stood by my car pondering what to do--other than empty it and reload it in the car--a young man walked by and looked at me inquisitively.  I told him my dilemma, and asked if he would be willing to put my box in the car for me.  He seemed genuinely happy to do so.  Even insisted on taking my shopping cart back to the store for me (although he was already pushing one of his own).

When I got home, I started unloading my car, when another car parked near mine and three people got out--two ladies and a young man.  One of the ladies asked me if I needed help.  I told her I had a really heavy box in the front seat that was probably too heavy for her, but maybe the young man could carry it up to my apartment for me?  He said he would.  She insisted on helping too by carrying some of the many other bags I was trying to juggle.

She said she knew me, but couldn't remember from where.  I told her I recognized her too.  Turned out we had both gone to the same church almost ten years ago, and sung in the choir together.  The two young people with her were her children, who had just recently moved into my building.  So not only did I get some much appreciated help, but I also got to meet my new neighbors.  Coincidence?  I think not.