Little blessings – an oxymoron

I’m all about the little blessings in life. By “blessings,” I mean a special, unexpected sign or gift bestowed by God (I believe) to us. Not exactly the Webster’s Dictionary definition, I know. One of these blessings has been the wildlife that has appeared in our yard over the last few weeks. It’s not uncommon for us to have “sightings” of animals – a coyote, fox or turtle cutting through the backyard that runs parallel to Lost Creek. The blessing has been that we’ve had a family of foxes that repeatedly come out at dusk to romp, play, climb on our fallen tree and generally amuse my husband, Joe, and myself.

Since it’s been over 100 degrees outside, we put water out for the fox, and anyone else that wanders by. Joe told me he saw the groundhog drinking from it yesterday. Yes, we have a groundhog that lives under our deck and comes out to eat, again, at dusk.

Sunday morning we had a young deer eat apples from our tree. It’s times like that that make me wish for a super-powerful zoom lens and for the ability to travel soundlessly through our kitchen window onto the deck, to get closer. For now I must be satisfied with a few photos, through glass and reflected sun, from more than 30 feet away.

Lately, Joe and I have pondered the blessings in our life. The fact that we enjoy being at home more than traveling to top vacation spots. And, that we still enjoy spending time together even though we’ve been married a while. Sunday we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary (we’ve known each other for 17 years). Our life together has not been all champagne and roses, for sure. But, we’ve weathered each storm and come out stronger for the next leg of our journey. And, I’m a better person because Joe is in my life – of this I am certain.

It’s going to be 100+ degrees again today and Joe was going to drive across town with a less than perfect radiator (the rest of his Jeep was going as well 😉 As I got ready for work, I remembered that I’ve heard his truck “sizzle” after the engine turned off recently. I felt a gentle nudge, which probably translated into nagging, and asked that he be careful when driving long distances. He often runs errands, so I’m not sure why today was any different, but I felt “the nudge.” Joe checked his radiator and sure enough, it needed coolant. He thanked me for sharing my uncomfortable feeling with him.

It’s these “taps on the shoulder” that convince me that God is taking care of us in our daily lives. We probably receive more taps than we’d like to admit, but we’re not always open to receiving the message. Sometimes I’m too focused on the task at hand, or in getting what I want, to notice. And, sometimes I have the weight of the world on my shoulder, so there is no room to tap. If God has counted the hairs on my head (and knows the number is dropping), I shouldn’t be surprised that he blesses us in small but appreciative ways every day. I just need to be open to the possibilities. And, not have my “backpack” so full that there isn’t room for a blessed idea in an otherwise regular day.