A slice of heaven

5:14 p.m. Today's project was to enjoy a spa day at Glen Ivy resort with my daughters, Heather's mother- and sister-in-law Kathleen and Amy respectively, and my daughter-in-law Marisela. This girls' day out was the perfect wrap-up to my birthday week.

We did the obligatory and delightful mud bath, and then dried off in the sun. The complexion of our entire bodies was t invigorated by the shower and scrubbing off the mud. Plus the eucalyptus scented soaps and lotions really give a refreshing feeling.

It was much more crowded today than on the December weekday in 2009 when I went for the first time with Heather and Kathleen. But we tried all of the experiences we wanted to except

the sulfur pools, where each soaker gets 20 minutes. The wait would have been too much. We did skirt some swarms of bees and yellow jackets but they didn't sting any of us. Both Heidi and I are allergic to bee stings, so we walked carefully.

Lunch was almost ruined by swarms of yellow jackets as we took our seats on the patio at first. But they were landing in my food, and all about our faces and heads, so we grabbed our trays and hustled inside. We mentioned it to various employees, so I hope they can at least set up traps and release them in nearby Temescal Canyon! Otherwise, our lunch was wonderful. I loved my "Street Tacos" made with grilled salmon. I noticed with amusement that as the six of us sat at two small tables, we were were grouped thus: Kathleen, her daughter and daughter-in-law; and me with my daughter and daughter-in-law. Cute, I thought, not even intentional!

I can't help but think with affection of the way the Lord has blessed me with more daughters as my sons have married, and the good relations I have with them all. While the evil mother-daughter team of Herodias and daughter Salome caused the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark 6:18-29), I prefer to remember precious Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, traveling back to Israel from Ruth's native Moab after the death of Naomi's two sons. One of the most famous vows in all of the Bible was stated by widow Ruth to Naomi:

Entreat me no to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you ;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge.

Your people shall be my people,

And your God, my God.

Where you die, I will die,

And there will I be buried.

The LORD do so to me, and more also,

If anything but death parts you and me.

Ruth's loyalty and love were rewarded for eternity, as God placed her in the human genealogy of Jesus Christ!

After arriving home and freshening up, I had a second blessing in store. Paul Kilbourne, the landscaper for our church, Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley, called to say he was on his way to help us with our sprinkler system. Yay! Upon inspection of our timer, he told us the kind of timer to get, and told me something that would have saved us a month of tedious and wasteful hand watering: just turn the screws on the valves in the yard, and turn on the stations by hand! As I told Paul, Steve (who installed the entire system in 1988) forgot about the valve screws, and I never even knew they existed. At first it was hard to keep the sadness away when I allowed myself to think about this while turning each screw in order every 10 minutes, but since God has an answer for every problem, I can rejoice in the confidence we have in Him!

A third blessing happened in the early evening when Heidi and her husband Pavel, and his sister Becky, whose truck they used, came over to bring our queen bed back to place in the spare bedroom. Up the stairs they hauled it, with help from Steve, and down the stairs they brought the single bed mattress that had been in the room. I traded food processors with Heidi, in hopes that my Cuisinart will be able to handle a nut grinding task her Hamilton Beach cannot. And I don't use the Cuisinart except for making large batches of tomatillo salsa each summer anyway; I'm sure her processor can handle that. I also gave her a slow cooker recipe book, just the thing for the working wife!

Mutual love, help and provision for one another are ways that God's people can taste just a slice of heaven here on earth! Thank you, Lord!