Thursday, January 29, 2009

Cold house, warm heart

My heater has been broken for about a month. I KNOW! And DAMN, has it been cold in this house--especially at night. I've been wearing flannel pajamas (with the legs tucked into my big wool socks), a long sleeved t-shirt--and a sweat shirt! (I know, so sexy, right?) Then I 'd bundle up in a blanket and go to sleep under my down comforter. As long as I stayed in bed, I was warm!
But when I got out of the shower at 4:30am...YIKES!
I would touch all the buttons on the heater, flick the switches back and forth TRYING to get the heater to start up every day! Sometimes it would stay on for a couple of minutes--warming the house up 2 degrees or so--but then click off. (Every single time I would cuss...damn heater!) Then I swore I was smelling gas...so I stopped trying. And threw another blanket on the bed.
This morning it was 51 degrees in my house when I woke up. Sorry, but that's downright cold. I decided it was time to call the Gas Company.
"Dave", the nicest Gas Man in the world (34 years with the company!) tapped a bit here and did a couple of twists there, and it was fixed! When I asked Dave if he smelled gas...he said no, but that he definitely smelled something. He asked when I had last changed my filter.
Gulp. Um. Never? Yeah...I have lived here for 2 1/2 years now. And, no, never.
Dave pulled out the filter on the left in the picture above. Not too pretty, huh? (I went straight to Lowes and purchased the new filter...the old one was also the wrong size!)
While Dave (my new best friend) was running a few tests on the heater, he was also admiring all the photographs on my wall. He asked me questions about my sisters, my children (said he didn't believe my kids were in their 20s), and my childhood. He told me about his wife, about a time in his life that he had been homeless...and that he loved Jesus! He was so kind. Then, he asked if he could pray with me. (I am not making this up--it was incredible--and at this point, I had tears in my eyes!) He took my hands--right there in front of the heater--and prayed for me and for my family and thanked God that he was able to fix the heater for me. At the end of that prayer...totally out of the blue...Dave asked God to bring a beautiful man into my life.
And so, tonight, I am warm.

7 comments:

TSHarrison said...

Wow. What a cool heater guy.

Gina Vistaunet said...

Tears, tears, tears. Can he come pray with me too? My heater works fine, but I would like him to come over. Very nice story.

Chris T (alanna's mom) said...

God shows up in mysterious ways!

Zuzana said...

What a beautiful story!!!
I am a true fatalist and I firmly believe that things are meant to happen and if they do, the do happen for a reason.
I always keep my heart and my mind open to possibilities and never disregard any signs thrown my way.
This, I would say, was a significant sign.;))
Love the pictures of your filter.;)

Eliane said...

What a great guy and such a precious moment.

Sarah said...

THat is a great, great story! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Did Chris T (alanna's mom) go to that concert with us in 12th grade??? (Private joke, Chris T -- Julie gets it.)