On the very coldest day of this week - I think my phone told me it was -11 without wind - a pair of deer visited me at church. It was a quiet afternoon, I was the only one in the building at the time, and they came right up to my office window and peered inside. It was so unusual - and so delightful! After we looked at one another for a while, the deer started walking up the sidewalk, taking their time and peering in other windows. For some nonsensical reason, the thought came to me that they must be hungry and that I should get something for them to eat. I quickly found some carrots in the kitchen fridge. By this time the deer were up near the Narthex and I very slowlyyyy and carefullyyyy opened a door to toss out the carrots. Clearly my idea of slow and careful was not a match for the deer's sharp eyes and ears; they saw me immediately and ran off toward the outdoor chapel. I tossed the carrots out onto the sidewalk anyway, and went back to my office.

I felt terrible about scaring them away. I may have lingered on feeling bad about it longer than I should have, but it was absolutely frigid outside. I kept wondering if they had come near the building to be warm, and then, rather than leave well enough alone, I scared them back out into the open. I thought about those (in my mind) poor, cold deer for the rest of the afternoon. 

The first thing I did when I got to church the next day was check to see if the carrots were still there. They were. Darn. I checked again several times throughout that day. Still there. Still there. And then a final check late in the afternoon, just before I was leaving for the day. The carrots were GONE. And not only were the carrots gone, but there were deer tracks leading right up to where they had been. Had they waited until they knew I'd be distracted by a Zoom meeting? However they did it, somehow they snuck back up the sidewalk without me seeing them, and grabbed those carrots. Smart deer. Happy me.

It's a silly little story. But during a week where there was a lot of heaviness in the air, the return of the deer to eat their carrots was a moment of joy. And a reminder that there is grace and beauty and balance and joy in the world. Even when we think it's all broken. 

My prayer for you this week is that blessings sneak up on you where and when you least expect them. Especially when you think all is lost. In fact, in those times may blessings peer right in your window.

Blessings,
Jennifer