The wind blows where it wills

I drove by a sign today that said "17 Days until Spring!" I can't believe it since it feels as though we hardly had any winter this year. I love winter and I love snow and only two miniscule snow squalls entered this Delaware area thus far.
Furthermore, whatever happened to the saying " March comes in like a LION and goes out like a Lamb?" I am shocked that the Lion today was sunny and warm and 60*, not exactly a roaring version.

As Spring quickly approaches, my lovely pink orchid began blooming. My houseplants are betraying me too, blooming in the dead of winter rather than waiting until Springtime warms the windowsill where they grow. I love flowers and group them in the same category as I do my birdwatching. I know their names vaguely and often can identify the more famous ones, say the Orchid, or the Rose or the Sunflower...but I have no botanical name with which to impress gardeners that are always comparing notes and exchanging cuttings. I love the flowers, I love the birds, I have no pressing need to become personally acquainted with the details of their lives. I have friends for that.

The best part of Spring approaching is the daylight factor. My job ends precisely at 6:00 pm when all the little children have been gathered by their loving parents and I am headed home at 6:01 pm. In the last few weeks I have noted the sunshine presence increasing daily as I drive homeward. It used to be that I went out to my car and it was dark and if not for the outdoor lighting at school, I could easily have stumbled on my way to the van. Now I have to decide whether it is dark enough for the lights of my car to go on for safety, and tonight I even looked for my sunglasses as the glare from the sunset entered beneath the visor!

All this chatter about Spring and Light returning is to bring me to my point about church yesterday. The sermon was taken from the book of Matthew, in the New Testament, and it was about letting our Light shine before men so that they could see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. I am to be the Light shining and doing good works to direct people to glorifying God. But today, a mere day after this sermon reminded me to glorify God intentionally, not nonchalantly or purposelessly, I was shocked by the ability of God to use an utter stranger to gain glory for Himself!

My van window blew out by the gusting wind a week ago and needed to be replaced. Naturally my insurance didn't cover this 'act of God' (their words, not mine!)So , although willing to drive with plastic flapping wildly in the breeze forever if I needed to, my GRAMMY self decided that it was too scary for transporting grandchildren as I often find myself doing. It must be replaced! The window man quoted $196.00 and after throwing out all of my usual tactics for receiving a lesser price, including memberships in AAA and AARP and how I wish I could have used FREE, he reduced it to $187. I made the appointment which included a 'free' mobile service to my work. Now here comes the cool part: the young man brought a tinted window pane instead of the correct clear pane needed. He said he could exchange it but I mentioned perhaps I didn't care if all my windows matched if he could reduce the price even more? "Well," says he, " Tinted is usually more expensive, but I'll ask". Now the Glorify God part: He walked over to me as I supervised the children on the playground on this Lamb like mid-winter day and said " The boss told me I could charge you $100.00 after I told him you worked with kids and were poor".

Can I just write here that God saved me working almost an entire day to pay for what the 'act of God' did to my van? I kind of chuckle thinking that God fixed what He broke!but more to the point He brought Glory to Himself with no help from me and my good works this time. He used the good works of a total stranger to glorify God. I was beside myself with Joy and excitement and went around work telling everyone what happened! Hopefully the very next time,(tomorrow?) I will be the one who brings Glory to God by my good works, because He is worthy.