If my mind continues as it is at this moment, I intend to write down some "diary" entries in this blog. Some of my days are as boring as a dead cricket, as interesting as a headache, and as cold (as one of preacher friends used to say) as an opossum's tale.

But sometimes days are swifter than a "weaver's shuttle" (Job 7:6) and as busy as a telephone signal on the old telephone line used by myself and my family in days gone by. Today was one of those day.

Awaking from a really good-night's sleep this morning, I noticed that the air was cold in the house. I construed that the furnace must not be running: either that, or someone in the house turned down the thermostat and left it down all night. After I readied myself for the day by taking a bath, putting on my clothes, brushing my teeth, and combing and spraying my hair so it would stay in place all day, I went into the hall and checked the thermostat. I noticed that the temperature was set on 71, but the temperature in the house was 67. That indicated to me that the furnace was not running. I realized that I must call a repairman to come and check on the furnace today, because the temperature on the outside was, I think, two degrees.

So, as soon as possible, I called the heating and air conditioning company that had just come last Friday and did maintenance on the furnace to see if they could come today and check the furnace. I talked with a nice lady, and she said she would have the serviceman to call me later. In about 1/2 hour a woman from the company called me and asked me about the problem. I told her, and she said one of the repairmen could come by immediately and take a look before he went on his day's schedule, a schedule that would take him all day to complete.

When he called, I was eating my breakfast at McDonald's. I had asked my daughter-in-law if she would be at the house this morning when he came by, and she said she would. I told the man to come ahead to look at the furnace. When the man got to the house, he called me and said that no one was home and that the door was locked.

In the meantime, I am preparing to meet a missionary at a restaurant to talk with him; so I could not go home. I told him the number to open the garage door, but it did not work. I am assuming the batteries are dead in the number pad. I told him that I could not come home, so he had to go on to his appointment for the day. Now we are left without heat, and I found out that my granddaughter had got sick, and they had left the house.

After talking the the missionary and his lovely wife for about an hour and a half, I thought, "Whom should I call to look at the furnace?" I wracked my brain and could not come up with anything, thinking that I would look up some numbers on the computer when I got to my office. I left the restaurant and got in my car. As I was pulling out, I drove up beside a truck and noticed on the side "Guiler Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling." The number was in red and in large numbers. I said, "Thank you, Lord," and I immediately called the number. To make this much-too-long story shorter, I was able to get an appointment between 2:00 and 4:00 for the repairman to come to the house.

While waiting, I was busy taking phone calls and trying to get office work done. I completed a missionary letter and got it ready to send to churches, and I got some other office work done that was necessary.

At about 1:15 he called me and said he was on his way. He came to the house, and I left the office to go to the house. When I got home, the repairman was already at the house. He checked the furnace and told me that it needed maintenance. Now, we had just had maintenance done on Friday, and this is Monday. He said the person who had done the maintenance had installed the wrong nozzle and that he did not clean the air filter. I was stunned.

The repairman told me he could do the maintenance "right now," so I told him to go ahead and do it. It took him about 45 minutes, and I paid him. The house has now been transformed from a refrigerator to a warm, cozy place.

Now all I have to do the rest of the day is do my daily Bible reading (which I began early this morning), make some calls, and continue reading a book that started more than a week ago and need to finish.

Isn't it wonderful how the Lord blesses and leads us along? Who would think that the Lord would have me drive right up against a truck from a heating and cooling company? Well, I really was not surprised. God has done things like that for me many, many times.

Just when you think things are going wrong, God either helps you out of the trouble or gives you grace to live through the trouble.

"2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."