Five Mile Drive is still cold. I thought I was handling the winter thing pretty well, until Tuesday afternoon when even my hot flashes couldn’t disguise the chilliness in the living room. A quick look at the thermostat and a trip to the basement confirmed my suspicions: the furnace/boiler wasn’t running.
Hiram restarted it and called the furnace guy. The furnace guy tinkered with it Wednesday and said it needed more work. It quit again sometime last night and a higher echelon furnace guy came today. By the time he got done fixing and replacing and bleeding air out of radiators, our bank account was a little emptier and the house much warmer. This furnace guy, a very patient man who thought that if he explained things like valves and keys and sensors to me I would understand them, said our heat might go out again because something burned up. But, he assured me, we will be able to restart it and stay warm. I hope he’s right.
SInce the boiler’s pretty big, I plan to wrap it in colored paper and top it with a big bow. Then I’ll drag the tree to the basement so our present will be under it. We’ve always wanted fill valves and sensor gizmos for Christmas, and this year we finally get them!
Come to think of it, I’ve received everything I want most this year. My daughter’s home, my son’s safe and my husband loves me. We have a warm house, we’re together and healthy, and we have plenty to eat. Those are gifts many families around the world won’t have. Whenever I walk by a radiator and feel its soft heat, I thank God for giving me new eyes to see His grace at work. I pray for those who are cold and hungry and sick this winter, whether in body or spirit, who need that same grace. And I pray that over the next year, He will teach me and our family how to share the grace we’ve received with others.
Next Christmas, maybe our gift will be the ability to see how He’s answered that prayer.
