electricity and heat

There are days when I can handle the heat of the summer and there are days when it's just too much. This week is one of the hottest we've had all year. Tuesday night, our electricity went out and we didn't know why. Frendell checked the fuse box and thought we blew a fuse. When the electrician came by on Wednesday, he said that the wires were so old they 'melted/fizzled'. Wow!! We were so fortunate we didn't have a fire. In fact, when he called Com-Ed (they had to come and replace the electrical wires), the first thing they asked was if there had been a fire. Praise the Lord for His protection and intervention. Before we even knew it, He had already prevented it.

The other thing we discovered was that the central air was not even hooked up. There were two sitting out at the side of the house, but neither of them were working. So, we had to set up a time with the air guy and he had to order the one big enough to cool the house down and finally, after several days of sweating it out, he was able to finish putting it on yesterday afternoon. Ahh... I was finally able to sleep some last night and I turned down the thermostat so low, I was actually cold :-) Praise the Lord for electricity and airconditioning.

Faith has been so nice in including me in their family outings this week and I went with them twice to 2 different museums. It sure beats staying at home sweating :-) with my arm sleeve and binder, I am hot most of the time.

Last night, the girls, Karen and Emillie (Meng), took me out to dinner at Cucina Paradiso for my birthday. The food was delicioso :-) and the company great. We caught up with life and all it's happenings and it was great to share the challenges and growth moments and lessons learned/we are learning. i am very proud of these girls, to see what they've worked hard to accomplish in their lives and they continue their quest to find ways on how to serve God and others, not only in their church, but also in the community. They both brought up some organizations that I will look into to see if I can volunteer there. It warms my heart to see them grow up from the little girls they were when we first arrived @ Hinsdale Fil-am, oh 15 years ago, to the active members of society they have become. It has been a privilege to watch them grow up and I am so thankful that God allowed us an opportunity to be a part of their lives, even for just a moment of time.

As i sat there talking with them, I couldn't help but feel and take on some of the energy and enthusiasm they exuded. There is something to be said about being able to look back and appreciate the experiences you've had and at that moment I felt like God was gently reminding me that all will be well... that the purpose of life is really to share with and help others, for when we offer ourselves, this is when we breathe life into our own existence. A lesson learned on a very hot summer night...