When you hear about someone being hacked on Facebook, you feel sorry for them because you’ve probably been there too. It’s frustrating to say the least. But when you get a letter warning you one of your financial institutions has been hacked, that’s when it gets beyond frustrating. It’s happened to me and now I’ve got to carefully check to be sure no one is using my personal information to open a new account or use my existing accounts. What a world we live in! Technology is like the tree of good and evil in Genesis. We’ve already eaten the apple, now we have to live with both the bad and the good.

My daughters love the ’70s song, “We Are Family.” And when they’re together and hear it played they sing along. (There might be a little dancing involved too.) Their favorite line of the song, “I got all my sisters with me!” My girls love being together. They are family. Someone once told Jesus his family was asking for him and he had a surprising response. He looked at his followers and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12). Jesus’ family extends much further than a physical family. Those who trust in him are all included. We are family!

As I left town after grocery shopping, I avoided an animal run over in the street. Did it move or was that my imagination? I had to check. I drove back to find a little dog looking up at me. I parked my car so no one else would hit it and knocked on a couple of doors trying to find its owner. No luck, but then a neighbor across the street drove out and I called to him. He parked and came over. He didn’t recognize the animal either and called the city’s animal control. As we waited for them to come, the man went back to his house and brought a bowl of water for the panting dog. The temperature was in the high 90s. What a kindhearted thing to do. I don’t know this man but I do know kindness when I see it.

He’s not his full height now but it won’t be long. One of my neighbors’ sons is still young enough to appreciate jobs I have for him. Sometimes, if it’s a small request, he won’t accept pay. When he’s older, he will find more lucrative work, I’m sure, but right now he’s available. When I was gone for a few days last week, I asked him to water my outdoor plants and to pick up my mail. When I returned he had forgotten to pick up my mail. He was so ashamed he didn’t want to take any money from me. I insisted he take some for watering, but it was less than half what I had promised to give him for both jobs. I asked him what he was going to do so he didn’t forget the next time. He said he was going to write it down. Lesson learned.

“You mean you don’t wash and iron all these clothes before you sell them?” I teased the women checking us out. My daughter and I found some treasures at a church resale shop and were advised to wash the items before we wore them. They laughed, but the older woman said years before they had a washer and dryer there and she did just that. Now the store is so full of clothes and many other donated items, they can’t offer that service anymore. It made me wonder how long that elderly woman had volunteered there. How much of her time and her life had she sacrificed to not only provide for others but also to serve her church. Not every servant of the Lord has an official title, but he values them no less.

Though I kept hoping to see him out nibbling bits of grass, after several days I’ve had to face reality. Someone ran over my rabbit. I call him mine because he lived in the flowerbed in front of my house. He was not quite full grown but I saw him face off and jump at a squirrel who came too close. He was quite territorial about his garden. I worried about him being caught by a coyote, but a car or truck ended his short life. He wasn’t really my rabbit, of course. He was wild. He wasn’t bothered about me walking in his yard though, and I respected his space. He was just one of many of God’s little creatures, but I miss him.

I’ve been fascinated by them since childhood and still love watching them. They fly around willy-nilly, little sparkles of light. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to where they go or when their lights go on or off. They flitter here and there, creating their own light shows for whoever cares to look. Watching them reminds me of how generous our God is. Like those fireflies, he blesses all his creatures. His sun shines on all of us; his rain falls on sinner and saint alike. In this dark world, can we be like those amazing bugs, God’s little sparks of light wherever we go, a blessing to all we meet?

One of my Texas friends had a pacemaker put in a couple of months ago. He decided it might need adjusting so he went to his heart doctor’s office and asked to see the doctor. The receptionist asked if he had an appointment, and he said no. She told him he couldn’t see the doctor without an appointment. Unhappy he drove over to his regular doctor’s office and said he wanted to see his doctor. “Do you have an appointment?” the nurse asked. “No,” he said. “Is he here?” “Yes,” she said, “but you need an appointment to see him.” Now really frustrated, he left. Then his phone rang. “If you’re having an emergency, you need to come back to the office so we can see what the problem is.” “Will I see my doctor?” “No, but we can take care of it.” “No, I’m not coming back.” And, the old cowboy didn’t. I love living in Texas!

Peeking out from one of my flowerbeds was one of my red cardinals. I call him mine because cardinals call my place home. They nest in my shrubs and roost in the taller ones at night. I love seeing little streaks of red flash in front of my windows. They say female cardinals are not as vibrant to protect them while they’re on their eggs, but why are the males so bright red? Or why is that the same with blue jays and other brightly colored birds? God could have created them all brown and gray, but he didn’t. I believe those beautifully decorated birds are just one more sign of his love for us.

My birthday is this week. There’s a lineup of birthday cards on my dining room table to prove it. It’s noisy around my house because two dead trees are being removed from my backyard. I asked the guy if I got a discount because it was my birthday, but he just smiled and said, “Happy birthday!” Birthdays are times to think about life and where you’ve been and where you’re going. I’m in the last phase of my physical life now. I’ve lived longer than many of my family and friends. I’m thankful but also wonder why sometimes. The Bible says long life is a blessing and my retirement years have been good to me. Whatever the reason, I thank God for the years he has given and for the everlasting years to come.