Water, water almost everywhere!

3:29 p.m. Today's project was to figure out why one section of the backyard is dry and yellow instead of green like the rest. Certainly not earth-shattering like the events of this weekend in Pakistan, but worth looking into!

Steve set up a sprinkler system 23 years ago when we first bought our home, and it has come on, watering all of the sections beautifully in the middle of the night all that time, except for the last year. After a couple of power outages, it just hasn't been the same. Water would come on randomly in the afternoon, or stay stuck on one station. Since I was a mom with a newborn (5th) baby back in 1988, I was not privy to any of the set up or mechanics of the system to be of any assistance in fixing it now.

So between my ignorance and Steve's Alzheimer's, we make a royal pair of experts, don't we?

In January, the first Brightstar Agency caretaker we had actually did set the system to rights so we could stop feeling guilty about afternoon watering being wasted by evaporation. It was once again coming on at 1 a.m according to the original plan. I appreciated so much the Lord sending a helper with just the skills and willingness to guide and correct the problem for us.

I think of the Lord Jesus saying that He would send a "Helper" to us when He returned to heaven to sit once again at the right hand of the Father, John 15:26, in a beautiful picture of the unified work of the Trinity:

But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

How wonderful to know that in any query or problem, large or small, the Holy Spirit who indwells me is ready to guide, comfort and inspire me each day! And when I share the Lord with an unbeliever, He never fails to give me the exact approach I am to take in the conversation, and the courage to go forward, and then to follow up with the person. He also brings people to mind who need prayer, and keeps me accountable to my commitments to pray. And even if my behavior or attitude calls for an uncomfortable conviction of conscience and chastening, it is the Holy Spirit who shows me the actions to make things right. The resulting growth and learning are so worth it, Hebrews 12:11 NLT tells us:

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained this way.

I confess that I wasn't in a prayerful mood this afternoon when we set about finding the reason one patch of grass is dying and yellow. (Turns out that as the sprinklers overlap, they miss that area). We both lost our tempers in the hot sun, sad to say, but have settled back down, apologized and formed a plan for Steve to just water the patch with the garden hose and put fertilizer on it, maybe re-seed. We have some events coming up--a family bridal shower on May 28th and a wedding rehearsal dinner June 23rd-- where making the backyard available for extra tables and chairs would be nice, but not critical. It's the love of family that really matters!

The Lord was once again faithful, even though we were not on our best behavior, and helped us figure out the issue. Listen to II Timothy 2:13 for comfort when we fail, NLT:

If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.

Thank you, my faithful Lord!