My friend entered the hospital for her complex spine surgery on March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day. With it being St. Patrick’s Day, she wore bright green “pinch-proof” socks for her surgery. What a great sense of humor!
Just five days after her surgery she was being discharged from the hospital! And in that short span of time – Spring arrived!
There is nothing quite so healing as beautiful blooms brightening the world all around and adding a cheerful splash of color to the monotony of winter’s grey. I was so thankful for all the beautiful blooming trees along our journey home from the hospital with my friend!
Thank you God for blessings in the chaos that is life right now.
With Spring having just arrived, I was beyond thrilled to be able to pick a bouquet of daffodils from our yard, for my friend to have a Get-Well flower arrangement to brighten her days as she recovered at my home.
These few were all the daffodils that were blooming (the very first ones!) … and even though they weren’t a lot, together they made a happy arrangement of joy!
Thank you God for blessings in the chaos!
I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post that right in the middle of my friend being in our home, recovering from her surgery, hubby was required to travel for work. I also mentioned in another previous post about how I was on high-alert and attuned, listening in case my friend called needing my help.
That first night hubby was away, I was sleeping with one ear attuned & “listening” in case my friend called … when I was pulled out of sleep by a strange sound. Was my friend calling for help??
No. It’s not my friend.
It’s something else.
It’s something outside.
I crawled out of bed and went over to open the window a small crack.
It’s an owl! Oh how exciting!
With hubby being away I didn’t have to worry about waking hubby up. I opened the window all the way and pulled up my Bird ID app on my phone. Holding my phone to the open window, right away my app identified it as a Barred Owl. That is the coolest thing ever!
And there was not just one. There were a couple … it seemed they were having a conversation back and forth together. I was elated! I have never listened to an owl conversation in the middle of the night before.
Thank you God for blessings in the chaos!
The second day hubby was away on business we all got a Severe Weather Alert on our phones! Warning! Beware!
Or in other words: “You should be afraid. You should be very afraid.”
With the chaos my life was at the moment I just laughed. Of course … why not add 2″+ size hail, severe wind gusts greater than 58mph, and the threat of tornadoes on top everything else going on … at the exact same time when hubby was out of town for work.
I had no doubt whatsoever that God would take care of us, no matter what happened. I was not worried. God would cover us and take care of us.
Throughout that day (when we were supposed to be getting the terrible storm system) I kept texting hubby updates to help calm his fears over us.
Noon conditions at lunchtime …
So far the storm wasn’t that bad. Haha!
It seemed as if God was laughing in the face of the Severe Storm Warning. It seemed as if God was saying: “I’m greater than that. I’ve got you! Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid.”
I thought it was particularly funny that we never have clear blue skies and sunshine this time of year. Mid-March is always grey and rainy. But God sent clear blue skies and sunshine … I think especially for us, to let us know that He had us … and he was going to take care of us!
So, while my friend slept, I took a little stroll around the yard in the glorious afternoon sunshine – when we were “supposed” to be having hail and tornadoes – to look for some more of God’s blessings in the chaos.
The plum tree was in full bloom! Oh how beautiful! It wasn’t in bloom just a couple of days ago. Thank you God for blessings in the chaos!
By the way, can you spot the two little pollinator bugs on the blossom in the photo above? Thank you God for pollinator bugs!
As I delighted over the plum tree blossoms, my heart was filled with the joyful hope of having lots of wildlife come by this summer to enjoy the plums when they turn ripe in July.
Thank you God for blessings in the chaos.
The weather forecast had shifted and now the gigantic hail was predicted right around the time my daughter would be getting off work and driving home. I couldn’t help but pray that God would protect my daughter and her car from hail damage.
At the same time the doctor from the hospital had called in a re-fill on my friend’s heavy-duty pain meds … and not knowing exactly where we lived, he had called the prescription in to a pharmacy which was located 30 minutes away from our home. It would be an hour’s drive to get there and back. There was no way I could leave my friend all by herself and be gone an hour to get the prescription.
My daughter’s work location was already halfway there, so she offered to drive out of the way to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. And this was right at the time we were supposed to be receiving gigantic hail. Oh God please take care of my daughter!!
I decided to go check the mail … and would you believe the sun was still shining! Blessings in the chaos!
And not only that, right next to the mailboxes were some of the very first salmonberry blooms … highlighted in the beautiful sunshine! Blessings in the chaos!
And … there was a little pollinator bug to pose for my photo! Blessings in the chaos!
The sun kept right on shining … all while my daughter drove from work in the opposite direction of home to pick up the pain meds from the pharmacy. It was as if God was laughing at the scary Severe Weather Warning. And via the sunshine He was letting us know: “I’ve got you. Don’t be afraid. I’m taking care of you!”
Thank you God for blessings in the chaos!
On my way back to the house from the mailbox, I noticed the Spurge was getting ready to bloom. How beautiful! I don’t know much about Fibonacci numbers, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the Fibonacci sequence was on display in this pretty display. Blessings in the chaos!
And right next to the Spurge, the Squill had appeared! How pretty! Blessings in the chaos!
I didn’t notice this until just now as I was writing this blog post, but there is a little baby slug up in the blooms, on the bottom-most bloom. It even has a lengthwise stripe mimicking the stripe of the flower petals. That’s cool! I wonder if it was trying to find shelter from the coming storm? Or maybe it had just found a delicious feast.
My daughter picked up the prescription and made it back home to my house. No joke, as soon as she pulled into the car barn and walked in the house … at that very moment the sun disappeared behind gathering clouds to the west. And the sky immediately began to grow ominously dark-grey. I know this because I was outside at the time, chatting with hubby on the phone.
God held the storm back until my daughter made it safely home. God is that good!
Thank you God for blessings in the chaos!
Darkness closed in fast – the storm had arrived! Lots of thunder and lightning! I kept praying we would not lose power. I needed to fix dinner for us. We needed heat for the night. My friend uses a C-PAP machine to sleep, and she was also using an oxygen concentrator. “God, please don’t let us lose power.”
Hubby, far away in another state, was worrying about us. He sent us a screenshot of his weather app showing yellow and bright orange surrounding our area, and right where our home is the map showed dark purple – hail!
“Are we having hail??” hubby worried from a distance.
No hail. No hail at all.
It was absolutely astonishing that we did not get any hail at all … the whole storm through.
God was covering us! God was protecting us! Blessings in the chaos!
It rained hard and heavy all night long.
The next morning dawned beautiful, clear, and sunny.
God had protected and covered us through the storm of the night before.
God was protecting and covering us through all the chaos of life!
And we can count on it that God will continue to cover and protect us – no matter what happens in our future!
“He/she who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. … God will cover you … and under His wings you will find refuge.” – Psalm 91:1, 4
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” – Deuteronomy 33:27
Thank you God for blessings in the chaos!
