More Simple Joys by Susan L.

  There's something inherently amusing in watching humming birds fight over a choice patch of flowers. The bee balm is a great draw for them. The spikey blossoms are just the right design for the long, narrow beak of the tiny birds. With furious little cheeps one will chase another away: so much bluster for such a small package. It makes me laugh.
  I bought a new kind of mosquito repellent. This is the first summer I've needed protection almost every day in the garden. Usually by mid-July the heat has killed most of them off. We haven't had that kind of heat this year. When I went to pay for the repellent, I noticed a small compass inset into the cap. It had me feeling like a kid again, like getting the toy inside a box of cereal. I don't think cereal companies do that any more. Too bad. It was a highlight of breakfast.
  While searching for camping gear, I had been tempted to purchase a compass. Not that I go hiking in places where I might get lost, but simply because they are fun to have. In the digital age, with GPS tracking on our cell phones, these magnetic guides are becoming a thing of the past. I appreciate this gift a lot. It means the Lord is well aware of my simplest desires. It was wonderful to share my delight with the cashier who was near my age. The two of us laughed over cereal box memories.
  My psychiatrist, during his relationship questioning, commented that part of the reason he asks was to see if I trusted myself to make the right choice of a partner. My answer was no. However, the big build has grown a deeper trust of myself: a trust in my skills, and the ability to make decisions. It also has further cemented my trust in the Lord: that in Him, all things are possible no matter how grand or how small, His hand is definitely behind it all.
  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Jn 14:12-13