A Gift

Sometimes God drops a little present in your lap.

We have been preoccupied with a situation for some months now, the kind that can wear a person down.  No details here.  But yesterday afternoon my heart was heavy about the whole thing.

I had read on Monday of a rose-breasted grosbeak at a friend's feeder in a town 35 miles away.  (They migrate through, but do not nest, in this area.)  Then a local friend posted on Facebook that she had seen one at her sunflower seed feeder on Lake Hartwell yesterday morning.  Another friend, who lives just a few miles from here, had commented - just five minutes before I read it - that he had just seen one also, on the ground below his suet feeder!!  Apparently there is an active migration pattern right now.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak - Not my picture;
pulled from the thousands on the internet.

I kept an eye on my feeder for two hours.  Mike came home from work; he understood my desire but thought it a bit futile to watch the feeder like that.  I made supper and washed the dishes, all the time glancing out at our little feeder station.

While working at the table half an hour later, I just happened to glance up, and there it was, on the sunflower seed feeder.  Unbelievable.  I called to Mike - he came and was equally taken with it.  It ate sunflower seeds for about five minutes then flew off.  (Another one was at the feeder this morning, when I checked, right before leaving for school.)

Mike's words:  "God just wanted you to see that bird."  It's been on my "to-see" list for over 20 years now.  Non-birding people probably think this is crazy, but I am still floating about it.  It was a wonderful little gift, much appreciated.

Recital

This morning I went to the music recital at our school, and went away blessed. Seeing the job that the music teachers have done with those children absolutely touches my heart. One young autistic girl, who is doing so well, sang "Here am I, Lord."  There were damp eyes all over the cafetorium. 

Such a successful recital took a lot of hard work on their part as well as the students'. And they think outside the box - for example, teaching a couple of young men to lead congregational singing, and teaching the students to accompany each other's vocal pieces. Great training!!  It is a privilege to be associated with our school!

Spring

Everybody loves spring.  Everybody talks about how it's so nice to be done with winter, and see the flowers, and get outside again.

I don't like spring.   Spring means we are heading into the hot summer.

Pastels are not my colors AT ALL.  Fall and winter colors are great.  The oranges of fall, and the bright Christmas colors - Even stark January and February landscapes (especially when red cardinals are present) are beautiful.  

The thin smells of wisteria and other spring flowers announce the pollen season, which means yellow powder is everywhere.  But the smells of autumn, Christmas, and winter are invigorating.

I feel better in cold weather.  In the spring, though the pollen doesn't cause congestion problems, I truly believe that it affects my autoimmune system.

Most people seem to disagree.  That's fine.  But fall and winter are better!  

Friday's Fave Five 4/3/15

Link to Friday's Fave Five host blog

1. Family and dear friends from Alabama came last weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday. It was a big couple of days and very nice.  Here is a family picture with my folks and their four children.

2. During the visits last weekend, we got to reminiscing about the days when we were all growing up together in Alabama.  We laughed and laughed, remembering old times and some of the funny things that went on.  Good for the soul.

3. SPRING BREAK this week!  The week of spring break always flies.  All of a sudden - it's Friday.  But I got a lot done, especially yesterday.  Closet cleaning, project completing, selling on eBay, and much more--as well as this episode of mailing a box to my son in China.  It's very nice to be out from under the weight of school responsibilities for a few days.

4. I finished sewing a fleece blanket yesterday.  The fabric has been on my closet floor for probably five months.  I'm staying warm under it right now.  :-)  However, it's made with grey, garnet, and black fleece to celebrate my husband's beloved USC Gamecocks.  And they got trounced last night in their baseball game, so badly that he turned off the TV in the fourth inning and went to bed.  So maybe I should turn it over and just look at the plain gray side this morning!!

5. It's been so nice to have time to rest and sleep in this week.  I needed it badly.  Next week - back to the salt mines!

Mailing To China

Well, son, it's a good thing I love you, after spending almost two hours of precious spring vacation time and an outrageous amount of money to mail a package to you in China.  :-)

It is unbelievable how much time it took to fill out the customs forms.  The first lady said - Oh, this won't do - you've got to list each clothing item individually, and each bottle of nonprescription meds individually, etc., etc.  For this box, that meant the meds for him and for another person, knit hats, a man's suit, scarves, socks, and little girls' outfits.

The socks were the ONLY thing I could find that was made in America, to send to three ladies that I met last summer.  The other items for their gifts were made elsewhere, but you can only do as much as you can do.  The hats were knitted by the sewing group who made them especially for Chinese believers.

It took me three forms to complete the required listing (you can only list four items on each form), and each form had to have the complete addresses of both sender and recipient written out.  In triplicate.  Those Chinese addresses, even when transliterated into English words, are long.  And involved.  I have no idea if the forms were correct at the end, but figure that once the box gets to China, they'll use the Chinese characters that are also on the label I printed out.

Then, after getting it all done, a different lady helped me.  She took one look at all I had written out and said "Oh, you didn't have to do all that.  All you had to do was write "New clothing items."  Aargh!!!

Anyway, the forms are filled out, the box is gone, and my debit account is lighter.  I love you, son!!