Do you ever find that life sends you little messages, and you always understand them? And if so, would you like to tell one? 

Example: My friend Dianne in Iowa had emergency surgery last December; not expected to live, and then uncertain if she would ever walk. 

And this is the letter I just received from Dianne: “The day before my surgery, a beautiful, white-breasted owl sat on my railing – turning his head all the way around for ½ hour! And I knew that I would not only live, but I would walk again.”    

Here is another: Sometime in the 1980's, a matriarch of the Nisqually tribe was dying and she went to the hospital just for comfort. And soon, eagles began to gather. They kept coming until there were twelve...even made the local newspaper, never before seen in downtown Olympia, WA. They stayed until the elder died, then flew off.

Finally someone got the idea to ask her family, who had come every day for drumming and prayers..."Oh yes, our mother was of the eagle clan, and the eagles came to guide her soul home."

I tend to find a message in most of nature . . .

We have bird feeders in our back yard. A tufted Tit-Mouse must of misjudged because it hit our French door window very hard. As soon as I heard it I went out to find it. It was laying still and in an odd position in the frosty grass. I thought it must be in shock and if it would have a chance I needed to warm it up . . . I rubbed my hands together briskly to create as much heat as I could (I had just been indoors washing dishes so my hands were already hot from the water) . . . I gently picked it up careful to not move it's little neck, and put one had over the other cupping him inside. I then did my best to focus on my hands and try and keep them warm  . . . After about 3 minutes I thought it might be dead when it twitched against my palms . . . I slowly opened my hands keeping them close, but not cupped . . . It took the bird another 5 minutes to right itself and then sat on my hand absorbing the warmth and clearing it's addled head . . . I then put it on the highest bird feeder and within 2-3 more minutes it took flight and flittered off into the woods . . . I snapped a shot of it with my phone once I could move my other hand:

The message?

"Kindness, isn't just reserved for humans . . . We reach out and provide warmth with our words and our touch, and it may be just what another life needs at that moment to get through a tough time." - DM

As a father, I have always tried to provide my children with various small and large unexpected breaks in the normal routines of life to provide them support, insight, understanding, and pleasure.

In the last 20 or so years, I have become aware that my heavenly Father (God) delights in doing the same thing for me.

Nope. I'm pretty dense on the subject.