Angels on Earth

It seems to happen more and more frequently lately that I find angels all around me, I ponder on that thought. Some angels come in human form, others, perhaps heavenly. Today's story is about the human form. It all starts with the story of the garden above. This garden is about 48 feet long and about 3.5 - 4' wide.  You can't really tell now, but the beautiful rock garden above, blooms in spring, summer, fall and much of winter. It is a hibiscus garden with about 10 trees that will grow back quickly reaching around 10 feet tall and displaying an array of deep orange, yellow, yellow and orange: and peach, some with single flowers others with double flowers. In between each hibiscus are smaller floral bushes that perk the colors up even more. This year, I may even add some herbs along the rock side; you know, the kind that love hot Florida sun. My husband, however, every year at this time, cuts all the trees down low to give them strength and stability to withstand the summer storms. With recent illness lasting well over two weeks, and still going, and all the rain we acquired in short spurts, the weeds among the hibiscus and floral trees, were taking over the garden in fierce battle. Sunday, I went out, still ill but feeling like doing something, I put on mask, gloves and knee-high boots (we have snakes) to battle the wild. You might be wondering about the mask. I have environmental asthma and every year when I work this particular garden, some of the dirt gets into my lung and I have both an allergic reaction and an asthmatic reaction, nasty stuff. Being as I have been ill now with a lung infection, the last thing I want to do is tempt fate. Therefore, I wore a mask.  I'm sure I am quite a site with my shorts and tee shirt, knee high rubber boots, mask and leather gloves. I worked for about an hour, perhaps a little longer on Sunday and was feeling hot, sweaty and very fatigued. I put away my tools, personal protection gear, shovel and trusty garbage can that held almost a barrel full of packed weeds. I got some work done in this short time; I was a true warrior of the weeds. Florida gardens are often a battlefield, if you're not familiar, they are often tenacious. They grow long spikey prickly stems; the roots delve deep into the ground, and they wrap themselves around all the roots they find. Many of them also are like tuber things that spread underneath the surface multiplying their numbers and strength faster than poison ivy spreads in kindergarten class. Sometimes these roots are so strong and resistant, as you pull and pull to get the entire root out (otherwise they are back in a few days) you can actually lose your balance when the root lets go. Canal land is not flat, it slopes downward, so one misstep in the footing or loss of balance can easily bring a normally stable person to the ground quite fast with a good chance of landing in the rock on the seawall, maybe, even in the water...not fun!  You have to be ever mindful of your footing for stumbling blocks, snakes, rocks and weeds that wrap around your shoes, in order to maintain your balance while you work. I have lost it many times over the years earning my cuts, bruises, bumps, bug bites, and rashes quite legitimately. But I will never give up getting this garden under control because it is so beautiful and well worth it, when it is done. Monday, I journeyed back outside, still sick. I thought just an hour. I got about 15 feet done on day one, so another 15 feet and I'm over two thirds the way done! Probably my first mistake was working ill, secondly, working alone but hey, who doesn't? The wind, I noticed, had a little more whip than usual but it felt nice. I put on my gear, grabbed a clean garbage pail to haul away my adversaries and got to work. I pinched the top of the garbage pail onto the edging of a rock to stabilize and secure it, a least a little. I'm playing tug of war and I believe the weeds were winning, so I took a pause to push the garbage pail tighter onto the rock's lip and went to the garage to grab my trusty shovel, my equalizer. I was only gone a minute, the garage door was already open, so I just had to run in and grab the shovel, I knew exactly where it was. I came trotting down the back when I notice something off. What is wrong with this picture...my eyes scan to the canal. OMG my garbage pail with weeds freshly plucked is now sinking down into the canal, just its wide-open mouth bobbing up and down right at the seawall. I tried kneeling and bending way over and I grabbed the garbage pail, but as it quickly filled with water, the weight was ridiculous. Of course, in water, everything seems much lighter, the problem was I was two feet above the water, and I would have to haul it up and over. Weighing in at about 8.34 pounds per gallon with half the 32 gallons filled with water within the pail, I wasn't winning this one! There was no way I was going to lift this tub of water up and out of the canal much less up onto the seawall.  A few times, I felt the wind kick hard and of course the current twists and turns pulling my wrist likewise. Yes, I could have just let it go, but I just hate when people let trash get into our beautiful canals where dolphin, manatee, turtles and so much other wildlife live. My mind was racing with ideas, none that were worthy, just a race of empty thoughts. Still, I tried a few: I tried to turn the garbage pail sideways and just lift a little to try and drain a bit, it worked for a minute but then it took more water back in as gentle but steady waves rolled the water back into the pail. I then resorted to the little sharp shovel. I held the pail with one hand, with current tugging in opposite direction while I tried to scoop the water out with the shovel, this was not working either. There was no way I was going to jump into our canal as the edges of all the seawalls and the bottom of the canal are filled with razor sharp shells and barnacles, nasty infectious material. If you slit your foot or hand and get bacteria in, it is not forgiving, and the infection can come to own you. No thank you, not jumping in, it doesn't help to make a situation worse. By this time, I resorted to being stretched across the seawall first lengthwise, then turning perpendicular to the water being yanked and dragged inch by inch across the seawall clearly earning the scraping, bruising, banging, bumping that went along with all of the effort. As I look around for ideas, I saw no one and nothing that could help me. I was bone dry of helpful thought and I was starting to think I would just have to give up. Maybe, when Steve got home, we could somehow drag that bad boy back up and out, although we have lost ladders never again retrieved. All of a sudden, I heard a voice speak to me, it was my neighbor. Funny, I never really see any of his family from our home too much. Their dock keeps the boat pushed forward around towards the front bend of the canal and out of our sight, with exception of the back end. Also, our yards have pretty dense set of trees and bushes between the two houses and a fence, so you don't see much of anything in their backyard, nor they ours. I do love this privacy. But there he was at the edge of his dock looking at me probably wondering, "What in the world is she doing". Surprisingly, he wasn't laughing, he just kind of looked concern, he probably thought I was crazy at that point. He said, hey the current is moving right towards my dock, just let her go and she will drift my way and I will grab it.  It seemed plausible, so I let go. It just slowly sank deeper and deeper right where it was. Now to add insult to injury, my body was soaking wet with sweat, and as I stood up and looked down, my Apple ear bud ($200.00/pair) slid right out of my year. All I could do is watch it float down into the water and drift downward below my line of sight. I actually forgot I even had it in my ear. Honestly, at this point, I didn't even care. I decided to go to my garage and see if I could find a rope to help tie it off the pail to the something; anything.  I could still grab and drag it towards my neighbor since he was so nice to offer. Upon my immediate return to my seawall, my neighbor was on my seawall using a fishhook that I guess is used to help lift up heavy fish up and into the boat. The apostles fishing came to my mind, and I instantly thought how unusual for anyone to be just there where he can help me when, just a minute ago, there was no one around.  He already had that garbage pail up a good way out of the water, using the fishhook he poked a hole in the side of the pail and allowed it to drain a bit and then was able to pick it up and bring it in to land. Amazingly, it looked so easy. He said, "I saw you struggling to get that pail out and I just felt I had to help you." I am terribly thankful right now, but not so much about the pail being saved, nor the canal being saved of yet one more piece of junk that finds its way to polluting it, but because, there was no one around, and then there was and because it was kindness to just help someone, me. Sometimes in this world, it's easy to not see the good around you, the news on TV is always so bleak. Neighbors don't often talk to others like they used to, and sometimes, the world can feel a bit isolated. Today, it felt warmer, kinder, nicer and I know God saw me and help arrived. Helping someone is a choice. We often get the opportunity, but many times we will just turn away and pretend we didn't see the need, or we tell ourselves, not today, I'm too busy. My neighbor, the human angel, took the opportunity and made a difference for me. This makes me think that every time I sense a need to "help" to try my best to meet the need. We may just be the angel God sends, our response, is our response to God. Oh, and yes! I did clear about another 15 feet afterward; tenacity paid off again. I told my neighbor, "Thank you" with sincerity of heart and soon I will bring his wife and he a little thank you gift.  It's always nice to be appreciated, although God will certainly remember him too. May your life be surrounded by angels, and may you be an angel to others when opportunity beckons. Oh, what a beautiful world this would be! God bless....be healthy and stay well. 

Ps. 91:11-12 

     For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

In His love and Grace, we remain,

Candy