Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

It seems like I’m accumulating a nice pile of surprises, so decided to post a few here.

Surprise:
Fritz made it through his 4-hour seminar at Purdue yesterday without ANY of the old signs of heart distress. He experienced significant weariness, to be sure, but nothing obviously scary or threatening. The audience applauded him and gave him plenty of verbal recognition and appreciation. Evidence of God’s mercy showered upon HIM continues to encourage ME.

Surprise:
I actually FINISHED painting the dining and living rooms in Buck Creek. Yesterday I moved on into the area at the bottom of the stairs yesterday (closet door and short wall) and kitchen (trim only) without the mega-burnout I expected! Maybe tackling the walls of the whole house by myself is something that’s actually do-able. (GULP…maybe, just maybe, I’m not a total has-been).

Surprise:
The appraiser said our Buck Creek house is valued at $265,000 – a figure that confirms our original asking price of two years ago as not ridiculously high (or overtly greedy) after all.

Surprise:
After much haggling over some politically-correct-but-inapplicable-stipulations regarding flood plain status, we finally got our home equity loan and can make plans for new roofing, electrical service, windows, etc. for the Buck Creek house. We had to buy flood plain insurance even when our insurance agent verified we are NOT in a flood plain…just to satisfy the underwriters of the loan…but so be it. At least it came to a solvable conclusion and WE CAN PROCEED!

Surprise:
I found a kind note and paycheck waiting in the mail here in Michigan from the director of Miracle Camp, even though I told them not to compensate me for the two days I spent in the kitchen recently. Such gracious/generous people are inspiring.

Surprise:
Hallelujah Acres is offering 3-day Health Minister Training in off-site spots across the country (something brand new). A session will be held in Canton, Ohio in July. I’ve toyed with attending this training for years, but never pursued it since I didn’t want to deal with the long-distance travel (to Shelby, N. Carolina) by myself, and couldn’t justify the expense. Fritz - the eggs-sausage-toast-fried-food-dessert-man - has shown strong interest in attending the Ohio class with me this summer as a celebratory anniversary outing. Who would have thought?! I NEED a motivational jump-start as this winter was hard on my raw-food resolve and I’ve had a hard time recovering…so…hallelujah!

Surprise:
It’s a beautiful, warm, sunny day up here even though it’s rainy/cloudy/cold “back home” in Indiana. Sunshine on choppy water is great visual therapy; wind in the face sweeps away cobwebs. Now to take a walk and let all those watery smells seep inside (somehow they DO manage to get to heart/soul level) and do their rejuvenating thing.