Lessons From The Sky

God was talkin' loud and clear today. We had church at our home, which could have been a blessing or a curse since I woke up feeling less than my usual contented self. It seems like I’ve been experiencing too much “hope deferred”. But I know I’m waiting on the Lord and just need to remember that. Or be reminded of that. And a houseful of Jesus-lovers…took them about ten minutes to push away the dark clouds.

I mentioned to Jill that the day before had been hell at work and I wasn’t expecting today to be much better. When I left the meeting, I made it to the stairway door before Jill followed me out to pray with me. We stood in the hall holding hands and she prayed for a better day at work. I thanked and hugged her and drove to work. One quick stop at the Kwik-Stop for gum.

With the balmy 25 degrees, I shed my over-stuffed coat and enjoyed the brisk Minnesota air! Another one of God's way of speaking to me: fresh, cool air. I love it, in all its "aromas"...especially on my way to a 12-hour stint in a closed building with a phone stuck to my ear.

Walking back to the truck from the store, I heard the rush of wings above me and looked up to see a trio of Canada geese pass over ten feet above me. I started to smile—I love birds and think of them as God’s messengers of affirmation that He is watching over me—until I felt the wet, warm PLOP on my arm. Yep—a goose had splatted me, green and slimy.

And there was another opportunity to choose the blessing over the curse. For the green goo was on my shirt sleeve, right up to the edge but not on the skin of my bicep (not that I’m squeamish – when I was a practicing falconer I had all manner of animal excretions upon me at various times!). But I took the close but no cigar aim of the goose as a message from God. Because a skin shot would have just been nasty on my way to a 12-hour shift. And my bald head was certainly a more visible and satisfying target.