Beautiful Sound, Beautiful Gift, and Beautiful Dog (and Llama)

The last 24 hours or so, three beautiful moments came into my life. The first was a sound on Sunday afternoon, the second was a beautiful and unexpected gift, and the third was my beautiful pup with her llama. I share these both as a celebration of the gift they were but also that they, in some way, are a gift to you as well.

The Sound

After the cold snap we’ve had recently, I was thrilled to get to go outside on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 50 degrees and sunny. As Scout and I were walking around the lake, I heard a really unique sound. There was still an areas of thin ice covering parts of the lake and a strong breeze was blowing the water across the lake. But take a listen to what it sounded like where the water was meeting the still-present ice.

I did some audio editing to remove the wind noise so that’s why it sounds a bit muffled but listen to that noise of the water meeting the ice. It sounded like a really unique and beautiful wind chime but unlike any wind chime that I’d heard before. I’ve heard water under ice before but not this much and in this way. So beautiful.

A Beautiful Gift

I have written many times here about my friend and colleague Lisa who died about 18 months ago after fighting cancer for nearly 3 years. A few weeks ago I shared about my time at the labyrinth built in her memory and Scout’s giving me the space at that beautiful place. Last night, I got a text from Lisa’s husband that he found a Bible that Lisa had planned to give to me around the time she preached at my installation service but for some reason never did. Her husband sent me these two photos:

He also noted that there were post-its with other notes that seemed to go with it. He is going to be bringing it all by sometime this week. Yes my heart ached as I messaged with him about this but there was much more a sense of joy and love to hear her “speak” again.

A Beautiful Dog (and Llama)

And this afternoon as I was outlining my sermon for Sunday and also doing some book proofreading, Scout was cuddled up next to me. At some point while I was working away she wiggled around and I looked over to see this.

Yes she does sleep with one eye slightly open…

So, a dog cuddling with a plush llama. Hearing from a friend I didn’t think I’d hear from again. And a sound quite unlike anything I’d heard before.

Three beautiful gifts. So grateful.

Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed

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