Chimney Calls

A string of setbacks.  One lousy thing ... after another ... and another.  That's what the week had been like ... seriously ... that's what the month has been like. 

Somehow I thought the new year was going to change all of that.

So far ... it has not.

There has been car trouble.  And family situations. And a stupid speeding ticket. Things have been lost. Confidences have been broken.

It was the morning after the meeting that came as a blindside ... the one that opened with name-calling and ended with veiled threats to the happiness of one of the ones I love most.

What is one to do when standing up for what's right ... costs so much more
than simply backing down?!?

There was a brittleness in the air that morning as I drank my coffee ... and he drank his cocoa.

Wa-hoo!

A loud bird call broke the silence.  Taboo craned his neck straight over his back so that his cat-eyes could stare at the fireplace upside down.  Startled  ... and drawn as if by a magnet to the call.

"Was that an owl?" he asked.

"I don't know," came my reply. "Maybe."

Wa-hoo!

The call came again.  It sounded as if it was right in the room with us. 
I headed for the door as he strode to the fireplace.

"It's coming from here," he said. "It must be inside the chimney!"

Carefully I opened the door to the screened in porch and stepped out.  As I reached the outer patio the persistent call came again.

Wa-hoo!

From inside he insisted, "It's in the chimney!  The bird must be stuck down in the chimney!"

I looked up to the rooftop. And there He sat.
Calm. Serene. Unruffled. Larger than life.

A humongous dove ... was perched on top of the chimney.

He met my gaze with a steady stare.  After what seemed like several minutes ... but was probably just a second or two ... He turned and gracefully flew away.

"It was a dove," I cried. "Sitting up on the chimney top.  The BIGGEST dove I have ever seen!"

Back inside we marveled at the experience.

Three times the dove called down the chimney ... so that His call would be heard by us ...
on the inside.

It was deliberate ... undeniable ... direct. In the blink of an eye, the hopelessness in the air had ... vanished.

"I had a visit from a dove a few years ago," I said excitedly.  "It was amazing. I blogged about it at the time."

Urgently, I began searching for it.  It took a little while to find ... Odds (August 4, 2012)

I was unprepared as I began reading outloud.  Sharing the first dove story with him that morning.

Over more coffee. More cocoa.

My voice broke. Tears wet my cheeks. Amazing how this string of setbacks resonated with those on that other day.

A quick Google search confirmed
... then and now ... an appearance of a dove is
an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

Broken. I was.  Humbled by this personal reminder that God is faithful. He never changes.  And His Word is the same ... from everlasting to everlasting.

"It was God calling to us," I told him. "Did you hear Him?"

~ photo by Bill Fagan 9.23.13

"Yes. I did."

Three times ... that morning ... God called down the chimney.

Once for Taboo. Once for Roland. Once for me.

Each message is different. Personal. Special.

God only knows what He said to Taboo.

Then He waited patiently for me to come out ... to see ... Him.

Odd.  Only the day before I had asked Him ... to show me His glory.



(c) lifelessons-mj 2016