Nordhjem: Holy Angels?

My mini-crisis began when I walked into the store. I'm greeted by a guy who is always a bit short with me. I don't know if it's that I'm a "woman in a man's world" (hardware/lumber store) or if he just genuinely feels put out by people bothering him to purchase the goods they sell. He always talks to me with a bit of disdain or bother. At least that's my read.

I'm in charge of errands when we're on our build weekends. This past weekend, it was in the name of preparing for winter. We need a supply of propane for winter - that includes refilling or exchanging two 20-pound tanks, and filling a 100-pound tank. So Mark and Dave carefully load the big tank onto the trailer and secure it so that it can't tip or bounce too much. I was nervous about this errand. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be driving around a propane tank over our beat up roads. But it needs to be done, and Mark can't take time away from the build to help me, so I put on my big-girl pants :-) and took off for Lutsen.

Sparing you all the details of the situation, let's just cut to the chase - while filling the bigger propane tank, helped by my nemesis, it became obvious that it was leaking. Bob, in his pleasant way, seems to be mad at me for this, and tells me he doesn't want to be anywhere near it - I need to take it away. I'm confused. I don't know what to do. I have a really bad feeling about this. I don't want to be anywhere near it either! I'm getting more anxious by the second. Just then, angel number 1 appears - the owner of the store, who Mark and I have known for most of 15 years. He handles the situation, deciding that I will leave the tank right where it is. THANK YOU! Then he asks me to go back into the store to do a material selection so he can order our roofing material. I'm glad to do that while letting my nerves settle down a bit.

So I complete the task and am walking down the stairs from contractor office, and Bob is relaying to his co-workers the horrible situation outside, and how he doesn't want to be anywhere near that hazard. I stop. Wait a minute. My truck is sitting out there. Is there a risk to starting it? I ask. Throwing up his arms, he repeats that he doesn't want to be anywhere near it. Tears begin to form; I'm trying to keep it together. I have NO idea what to do. How long might it be out there leaking? Hours - days. He doesn't know, or won't tell me. Angel number 2 appears. A man asks what's up, and Bob starts in again. Angel 2 looks at me and says, let's take a look. We walk out together and he tells me he was a fire fighter for 27 years. He looks at the situation, tells me that there's a lot of open air, and the wind is blowing away from the truck. He tells me to pull forward, not back up, and he watches me until I'm safely on on my way. THANK YOU #2! You ARE an angel!

So does God send us angels? "I don't know" is the answer to the majority of my theological questions. As a matter of fact, I really question those who seem to have all the answers - who seem to know the mind of God. So, I don't know if God sends us angels. If God does, then that raises all kinds of other questions, like why this situation and not the other? Why me and not them? But it felt like 2 angels rescued me on Saturday just when I needed rescuing. And I'm thankful, coincidence, God-moment, or whatever. So. Very. Thankful.

And while I might not have been praying for angels in that situation, I certainly was when I got back to the build site and we began devising our plan to install the largest windows in the cabin (one about 8 feet wide, and the other about 8 feet tall). Mark constructed a platform that he could pick up with the Bobcat. He then lifted Dave and the window up as high as the Bobcat could lift, which requires quite a bit of skill from the driver, Mark, and the hand-signal guy, Bob (a different Bob, thank you very much!) to communicate so that Dave doesn't get tossed and the platform doesn't hit the cabin. Then Mark would hop out of the bobcat, place a ladder against the platform, climb up to Dave, and the two of them would lift the HEAVY window into the rough opening where me, Bob (who ran from the ground up to where the others of us were waiting), and Linda (Bob's wife) were waiting to receive it. We plumbed, leveled, and squared the window, checked that it operated properly and then Mark and Dave nailed it in. Then Mark climbed down the ladder, and skillfully lowered Dave safely to the ground. It was nail biting for all of us. Who cares if the windows break. It's about the safety of the people that matters. And it all went off without a hitch, even while we held our breath and said a few silent prayers.

So that was the adventure for the weekend. Here are some pictures to bring you up to speed (all these windows face the lake)...