God's Reminders

It is already May in 2009 and this is my first post of the year.  I haven't had much good to post about of late so just decided not to.  It has been four long months of school and acne.  Yes, I said acne.  I realize I am 45 but am still struggling with this issue.  It is a long sad saga, but suffice to say that I believe I am on the uphill side now!  For those of you who have been praying for me - thank you!  Keep it up, I can never have enough prayer.  I have completed all the course work for my college degree.   Am still waiting to hear about one petition and I have to transfer my Midlands Tech credits, but at this point, it looks like I will have finally finished.  It only took me 7 years with a 27 year interval to be a college graduate.  Now what?  I guess like all college graduates I will have to start looking for work.  Probably won't until the end of summer; it looks like job opportunities are few and far between these days.  Also, for those of you who are interested in our house flip, I so apologize for the neglect of not posting pictures!  That also has been a long saga, but except for paint touch ups, the house is finished!  I will hopefully have pictures posted either in the blog or on Facebook after the touch up work is done.  It turned out quite nicely and now we are waiting for the appropriate occupants to purchase said property.  Lord willing it will be soon.  If you need something else to pray about for the Schrecks, you can add the sale of the house to your list.  Tomorrow we will be headed to Mississippi to pick up Emily who is now officially a college sophomore!  Yeah, Emily, job well done.  Hard to believe your first year has come and gone.  Seems like we just sent you off!  Anyway, we will be extremely happy to have you back, if only for a few short months.  Just want to share a short thought with you.  Several years ago, I went through a mysterious illness that no one could figure out.  I went to many drs., was quite ill, and had many tests run.  Anyway, my wonderful family doctor finally discovered some meds that would help me out and I have been fine ever since.  Unfortunately, while ill, it was a very dark time for me.  I prayed alot and one day during this dark time, I looked out my bedroom window to discover that pigeons had built a nest right on the windowsill.  I believe those birds were sent from God to remind me that there is hope and that there will always be new life.  I was able to look out my window everyday and see the babies hatch, mature, and fly away.  This gave me something to look forward to in the midst of my sickness.  I will always remember this as God's special gift to me to remind me that He cares about all my problems, He will take care of me no matter what, and not to worry or fear (which is one of my biggest issues!)  Well, as I mentioned above, these last four months have been difficult for me.  I was again struggling with physical issues that overwhelmed my thoughts and time.  I could not seem to get past the discouragement and couldn't see any hope.  Well, about 3 weeks ago, Mike woke up one morning, looked out our bedroom window and said, "There's a bird's nest outside the window!" I quickly went to the window to discover that a momma cardinal had indeed made a nest in the azalea bush outside our bedroom window.  I cried, because the Lord had again, in a very dark moment, sent me a blessing of watching nature unfold before my very eyes each day.  The cardinal was not there very long before two tiny birds arrived with hungry beaks reaching for food from their dad.  They were gone about two days ago, so I hope that they are all doing well.  God is so good.  He sends us hope in many different ways when we need it most to remind us that He is there, in control, and we have nothing to worry about.  If He takes care of the birds, the lillies, and the grass in the fields,  "shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Mt. 6:30.  Thank you, Jesus for this reminder.