Blessings or otherwise?  It is all in how you look at it.

First, let me say that Monday, May 16, started out as just a regular hot, summer day with great expectations of being OUTSTANDING!  After all, at 7:00 p.m. we were going to have our priest, The Rev. Anthony Hiatt, installed as priest-in-charge in the Episcopal Church of Wise County! (We have since become a mission and changed our name to Episcopal Church of the Resurrection) There was much to do.  I had made a list of all the things I needed to take to the church for the festivities because I knew I would forget something.

I think it was about 9:00 a.m. when I looked out the kitchen window in search of “the girls.”  On our little farm at the time we had one cow and her heifer—they were both pregnant and were both to deliver any day.  I noticed that Lily, the heifer, was lying down.  Hmmm, kind of strange early in the morning; usually she is up and grazing away.  I made a mental note to check on her.  It was around 10:00 a.m. that I went outside and still noticed her down, so off I went to check.  Sure enough, she was in labor.  She really is tame but she didn’t want me messing with her so up she got and off she went.  I watched her for about an hour and she had not progressed any at all—I could see the baby’s hooves but it didn’t seem that Lily was pushing hard enough.  Having no idea how long she had been in labor I called the vet; he said he would try to come out on his lunch hour because he thought she needed assistance.

Deborah, our next door neighbor, was kind enough to come over to help me get Lily into the pen.  Well, Lily didn’t want to go into the pen and around and around we went.  It is just too hard with only two people.  (May I say here that my husband walks with a prosthesis and is physically unable to walk in the pasture.)  I called another neighbor but he was unavailable.  Finally, another neighbor and his son came over and we got her into the pen.  By now it was about 1:30 p.m.   Our vet had called and said he couldn’t come until after 5:00 p.m. and that I should call another vet he recommended.  Of course, I called that vet and no one could come until after 4:00 p.m.  I hadn’t eaten a bite and after all the running around, I was somewhat dehydrated.  The neighbor’s grandson brought his trailer over and offered to take Lily to our vet and I gratefully accepted.

So, now, not having to worry about the girls, I went inside and tried to eat a small bite and drink some water.  I was lightheaded and wasn’t very hungry.  Now it’s 2:30 p.m. and I needed to get a shower and be ready to get to the church early enough to go over last-minute things, and I was assigned to usher.  I got out of the shower and I guess the steam worked against me, because I was so lightheaded I thought I would faint.  I lay down for a few minutes and thought I wouldn’t be able to go to the installation.  My husband came in and told me that I was getting into the car and I could choose what I wanted to do, go to the church or go to the Emergency Room.  I chose the church, of course.  As we drove there, I could barely look out the window.  I kept drinking water and I think I had soda, too.  By the time we got there I felt somewhat better.

We entered the church and found that our air conditioner was not cooling at all.  Terrific!  One of our members took a look at the unit but he couldn’t fix it.  It was extremely warm and stuffy in our little building and the old windows are unable to open.  So, the doors remained open throughout the service which allowed a little breeze to sneak in occasionally.  Oh my, we felt so sorry for the bishop and other clergy as they wore tons of vestments.  Everyone fanned themselves with the programs, trying to create a little cool air.

However, the service was wonderful, and afterward we had a fully-installed priest-in-charge.  On the veranda after the service we had many tasty snacks and drinks and the cool breeze was very much appreciated.

So, what can I say?  Blessings or otherwise?  It is all in how you look at it.  This day provided me with many blessings: new life, terrific, helping neighbors, a caring husband who knew just what I needed, and a loving church family.  All in all, I would say this day was OUTSTANDING!