By Faith

It's just after noon on Saturday. I'm sitting in my recliner with the front door open. The sound of spring lies just beyond the screen door and I'm breathing in deeply of all life has to offer this day.

I've been a widow (that still sounds weird to me) for just under six months and I'm learning a load of life lessons everyday. God is still on the throne, I will survive, I am not alone and I will go on.

I have a list of "to dos" that seems as long as my leg, but I'm one person and I'm learning to resort to God in a new way everyday. Today I decided to do another new thing. Actually I had decided to do it on one of my shopping adventures. I picked up a repair kit for bicycle tires. I have several things that have tubed tires in them. One was the garden cart someone gave us a couple years back. It has never been used. The little rubber spikes on the tires can testify to its disuse. In spite of its disuse it had a flat.
I decided to tackle the job of pulling the tube and tire, repairing the hole in the tube and then putting it all back together.

I remember my dad fixing tubes on our bikes when I was young. I remember him filling a bucket with soapy water and inflating the tube. One the tube was submerged in the soapy water he could see the hole. So I wrangled the tube and tire off its wheel and turned my compressor on. Inflated the tire and used my wash tub with soapy water to find the hole. One problem: too much soap. I had to bale the soapy bubbles out of the water. Once the majority of the bubbles were gone I could not only hear and feel the air escaping, but I could see where the hole was!

I put my finger on the hole, dried off the tube and followed the instructions on the repair kit. The first try was unsuccessful as the tube was a tad damp. The second effort proved successful!

After all of this came the real challenge. I have come to depend upon God's helpers, the ministering spirits or angels. The wheel was digging into the dirt and causing it to be full of sand. I heard a gentle, "turn it on its side" and so I did. I used the little pry tools provided in the kit, aired the tire and voila a fixed flat. Just one in a long list of "new things I've learned to do since my husband died"! Now I can sell the cart and someone who will use it will get more use out of it!

I'm learning to believe I can do whatever I hear God to do! It's called living by faith. It's not natural, but I sure love it when it works. Thus far it's worked without a hitch! Thanks Abba!


- love never fails.