As a parent, the days are long…but the years are short.

The Texas wildfires have been all over the news for the past couple of days.  A hundred thousand acres burned. Thousands of homes lost.  It seems as though there is no hope in sight as some of the fires have no containment.  The images of ranch land, forests, homes, and vehicles going up in smoke are heartbreaking to say the least.

The fact that my grandfather lives in Bastrop, Texas and is so close to one of the largest wildfires in the state makes me worry for his safety.  He also has ranch land that is 15 miles to the east that, so far, has dodged the fires. But without containment, I worry that the place of so many wonderful childhood memories will be scorched by the blaze.

Unrelated to the fires, I’ve seen on Facebook that some old friends have lost family members, others have lost jobs.  I’ve been through both of those at different points in life.  My heart aches for them.

The drought conditions that have affected most of Texas, have also made an impact on us.  Our area hasn’t seen a good amount of rain for quite some time.   We’ve been watering our lawn and foundation to make up for the lack of rain.  However, Hubby noticed a small crack in the base of our exterior foundation over the weekend.   Something else to worry about – oh joy.

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Yesterday, we received an answer to previous prayers.  The weather has finally cooled off, and we had an amazingly beautiful day.  A welcome change and much-needed respite from the constant 100+ degree days we’ve had all summer.  Wanting to soak up all the glorious weather I could, I grabbed a blanket and headed to the back yard last night.

I started praying and began to pour out my heart to God. 

I lay down and just stared up at the sky.

I worried about those situations and started to say “But, Lord, what about…?.

I could only see a few stars at first.

He showed me that he was there when those events happened.

The longer I stared, the more stars I could see.

He showed me that he is the Great I Am, who has always been and will always be.

Eventually, I was able to see a few satellites streaming across the sky.

He showed me that His Majesty reaches far and wide.

The boys, who had joined me a bit earlier, started giggling.

The pains we have on earth will all be gone one day.

I hugged them close to me and we created our own constellations out of God’s handiwork.

One day, we will revel in His Glory.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come.

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself the past couple of days.

Last weekend, I hosted a yard sale with a good friend.  My friend had lots of stuff to sell, and due to scheduling, not all items got priced before the sale.  Which meant that Friday morning there was a lot of “Jamie, how much is this?”  and “Jamie, how much is that?”.  I said her name so much that I’m pretty sure Jamie wanted to change her name.

The incident that has me pondering the question, occurred on that day.  A woman arrived at the yard sale, looked around for any treasures she might need.  She located an item that was not priced.  She asked the cost, and was told $1 each.  There were two of them. Individually wrapped.  She looked around a bit more, but only held on to the items that she inquired about.  Once she was finished browsing, she walked up and handed a $1 bill to me.  I looked her in the eye and asked, “Is this it?”  She nodded and walked away.

I knew she had $2 worth of items.  She knew she had $2 worth of items.  I could have stopped her – but I didn’t.

Honestly, I was a bit astounded.  This woman attended my old church.  I didn’t know her personally, but I recognized her face.  I’ve heard her husband speak several times.  I don’t know him personally but I did hold him in high esteem.  By association, I did the same for her.

I  was so frustrated Friday night that I didn’t sleep much.  She could have asked to get both items for $1, and I’m pretty sure Jamie would have agreed.  But she didn’t even ask.  Instead she left her character in shattered pieces lying on the table where she picked up the items.  I tossed and turned and just kept asking myself why would someone lose their character, their integrity, their respect, over one measly dollar.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That same day, my husband completed his Texas Concealed Handgun Instructor training.  He spent the majority of the week in a classroom with a test at the end of class time.  Next, the students moved to the firing range.  Oddly enough, the part of the class spent actually firing weapons is very short.  Authorities are basically testing students to make sure they have the knowledge to handle firearms safely, and make sure they can shoot accurately with both a revolver and a semi-auto.

Hubby told me that he was one round from having a perfect score.  He said that all rounds with his semi-auto went just where they were supposed to go.  He said that all of the rounds that fired from his revolver went where they were supposed to go, but there was one round that did not fire due to some kind of malfunction.   He placed the unfired round back into the box and packed up his stuff. As he was packing up, he told me that one of the State Troopers commented to him.  He didn’t know the guy was watching, but apparently the guy noticed the unfired round and made some comment about how Hubby did the right thing.

He was one shot away from a perfect score.  Instead of asking for a re-shoot, or just firing another round, he walked away with his character fully intact. His character, his integrity, his respect skyrocketed because he did the right thing, even when he thought no one was looking.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One dollar?

One shot?

What’s the cost of your character?

It’s that time of year.  My annoyingly LOUD neighbor has returned.  I thought you might like to know about him so I’m reposting this:

I Know Why the Mockingbird Sings
I might not know why the caged bird sings, but I now know why the Mockingbird sings. This weekend, we had a Mockingbird move into the Bradford Pear tree in our front yard. He announced his residency around 10PM Friday night.

Frankly, I think he’s a bad neighbor, he is loud, he is obnoxious, and worst of all, he is nocturnal. When he decided to sing a serenade at 1AM, I was more than a little aggravated at him. And, somehow, I knew it was a him and not a her. I guess I assume all girls, regardless of species, know that at 1 o’clock in the morning you need to be sleeping, or at least have the common courtesy to keep quiet.

Since he wouldn’t let me sleep, I decided to do some quick Internet research on Mockingbirds. And you, you lucky devils, get to benefit from my midnight serenade. Now you, too, can wow your friends and relatives when you flaunt your knowledge of Mockingbirds at your next dinner party.

• The Mockingbird is the state bird for five different states: Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.

 

• Both sexes sing in the fall to claim winter feeding territories. These areas are often different than their spring breeding territories.

 

• Mockingbirds mimic other bird’s songs. They have also been known to imitate other sounds they hear such as rusty hinges, whistling and dogs barking.

 

• Female mockingbirds often build a new nest while the males finish feeding older fledglings and teaching them to fly.

 

• Scientists have found that female mockingbirds are attracted to males that can make the most different sounds.

 

• Unmated male mockingbirds sing more than mated ones, and only unmated males sing at night. I guess my new neighbor was desperately seeking a date, because he sang all stinking night.

So now you know all you’ve ever wanted to know about Mockingbirds, and then some.