Unexpected Houseguests

Anyone who has known me for very long, would know that one of the things I abhor is unexpected houseguests.  Now , don’t get me wrong, I LOVE  company!  But my days are usually so jam packed full of things,  that I’ve got to do some mighty heavy duty planning to cram it all into 24 hour stretch. And usually I fail miserably.  But I’d like to at least say I came close to finishing all my projects in one day.  Probably a pride thing, I suppose.  In any case, I love expected company.  I just don’t like the kind of folks that show up at your door step to “surprise” you, as though I’m supposed to just drop everything and gush over how delighted I am to see them. Well, I am a lot of things, but phoney I’m not.  And if you disturb me in the middle of a project, I’ll probably just come right out and tell you to leave. However, I did make a tiny exception to my usual curtness recently. 

While I was sweeping up the front porch, I noticed the wreath that hangs next to the front door appeared a little lop sided…well top heavy to be more accurate.

 

Upon further investigation I discovered, (gasp), an unexpected houseguest.  Well, she was so cute, I just had to grab a picture before I shooed her out.  But then I had second thoughts.  What if she was about to be a mother?  What then?  I remembered the story of Mary and Joseph riding into Bethlehem without a place to stay while Mary was ready to give birth to the baby Jesus.  Thanks goodness the Christian side of me kicks in every now and then.  I let my little visitor stay…..but only until she had those babies!! Then she had to go. 

Sure enough, less than 2 weeks went by when I was sitting at my desk and could hear the constant sound of high pitched chirping. So I grabbed my camera to investigate, and this is what I found.

Notice the one little blue robins egg hasn’t hatched yet.  But 3 babies are visible.  Now, I not only have one unexpected houseguest, but 4, with another on the way!

Three days later, I checked again.  I still only see 3 babies in the nest.  so maybe the 4th one didn’t make it.  I don’t know.  But aren’t they cute?

I just had to share this experience with everyone.  Isn’t life a miracle?  No matter what stage, or what species. And for the record, the little family on the front porch is free to stay a little longer. At least till those kids of hers become teenagers.  I hate teenagers.

Smiles,

Tea Lady Darla

I Believe In Miracles!

I love having Tea On Tuesday with my friends.  Anyone who has ever visited me at my tea table has not had to wait long to hear me start telling some of my crazy stories of all the amazing things God has done in my life. I have story after story of God’s miraculous intervention in the circumstances of my life. It’s not that I’m extra special.  I think it’s just that I know where to look. So first of all,  maybe I should give you my definition of a miracle. I heard one fellow say that he would have to define a miracle as something that science could not explain. Some people think that miracles need to happen instantly, or they don’t really qualify as miracles. Well, for me that’s just not been the case.  Some of the most miraculous things that have ever happened in my life, happened over a period of time. Some miracles happen when we come to the end of ourselves, when we’re at the point of utter exhaustion, and when we least expect them to be there. Simply put, a miracle is divine intervention on our behalf. And whether it occurs instantly, or over a period of weeks and months, or sometimes years is inconsequential.  Sometimes the longer a miracle takes to unfold, the more miraculous it becomes. Like the opening of a rose. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Until at last it is exposed completely in all it’s beauty. And yes, God does sometimes use other people to perform His work. So I’m not sure that I like the definition that in order for something to be a miracle it cannot be explained  scientifically. That is just too dim a view in my book.

Take for instance the story of a friend of mine who came to me recently with some urgent financial needs. She knew I could not help her financially. But she wanted me to pray for her.  She knew that I knew how to pray, and she somehow thought God would pay better attention if I did the praying for her on her behalf. She also said she wanted me to teach her about God, because she knew nothing. I was delighted to have this opportunity.  And after we prayed together about her finances, I gave her a short little read called “Dinner With A Perfect Stranger”, by David Gregory.  This short story is a brief summarization of who Jesus is, written within a fictional storyline.  It is an excellent place to begin having some of your questions answered about what Christianity is, and why it stands apart from other religions. I highly recommend this book as a starting place for those who desire to know God more. And so I sent my friend on her way with her new book and the promise that we would meet again in a week to discuss the book and so I could begin to teach her about God, as she had requested. (The book takes about an 1 1/2 hours to read, so finishing it in a week was no big deal).  All week long I continued to pray that God would send my friend a miracle. She was really wanting someone to rent the room that was available in her home, which would increase her monthly income.  This would be important as she was on the verge of losing her home at that point. One week went by.  No miracle.  I called to see if she had read her book yet. “Not yet”, she said, ” I’ve been so stressed and exhausted.  But I’ll read it next week”.  The next week came and I called to see if she had a miracle yet and was she ready to learn about God. No miracle yet.  And she’d been too busy at work to even open the book. Now I really began to pray.  “Lord, please give this woman a miracle so she will know that you are alive and you love her and care about her needs!!!”

Five days later she called me excitedly to tell me that a friend of her brothers, whom she hardly knew, had heard of her dilemma and wanted to help. He had just sold a piece of property and had received a large sum of money from the transaction.  He wanted to lend my friend $5000 to help her get back on her feet again.  She could pay it back, whenever.  Don’t worry about it.  “Don’t you think that’s a miracle??”, she asked me excitedly. Well, heck yeah, I do! I don’t know of anybody who has 5000 bucks just sitting in their bank account to lend to someone they hardly know! You may not have any trouble explaining it scientifically. But it’s a miracle none the less! Was she ready to learn about God yet?  She hadn’t quite had the time to spend 1 1/2 hours reading this basic introduction to all the things I was waiting so eagerly to share with her about the God in Heaven who loves her and wants to meet her needs.

Jesus says in the book of Matthew that an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. Why on earth would He say such a thing? At the Crucifixion His tormentors taunted Him and asked Him to show them a sign and come off the cross, so they could believe. Coming off that cross would not make them believe.  It would make them hate Him more. When He was resurrected they fabricated stories about how the disciples had stolen His body.  People don’t need anymore signs. What they need is a heart change so they can see miracles all around them everyday.

I wake up everyday knowing that this body I live in is a miracle. I am fascinated how God fashioned each one of us to serve a specific purpose.  I could spend hours gushing about how incredible the human body is. Or the planet we live on. Priceless! When I look out the windows and see the incredible view that lies to the west, the glorious Cascade mountain range in all it’s splendor, and I am touched that God loved me so much that He placed that outside my window to make me happy inside. Oh I’ve got more stories, personal stories, mind boggling stories, funny stories, amazing stories.  Miracle upon miracle.  Some of them short.  Many more of them occurring over a lengthy period of time. I would like to share some of them with you as you come back for tea on another day.  I have to say in closing though, that the greatest miracles I ‘ve ever witnessed were within the hearts of human souls. I have  witnessed lives transformed in inexplicable ways. I have known people whose lives did a complete 180. Oh yeah, God is still busy doing miracles.  I’m pretty sure of that. At least He’s showing up in my life. How bout yours?

Thanks for letting me share my heart and my tea with you today.

 

Blessings-

Tea Lady Darla