Do you believe in "signs"?

I do.

I always have.

I also believe that God answers our prayers in many and wondrous ways....

And sometimes you just have to have an open heart and an open mind to see or hear the answers.

I've been having some issues, lately. Life seems a little out of control. I feel like I'm on a merry-go-round that just won't stop to let me off. Or a runaway roller coaster that careens faster and faster toward some inevitable unpleasant abrupt stop. Things are rushing toward me and past me faster than I can process and react. I feel really overwhelmed a lot of the time.

Yesterday, I glanced out my kitchen window to see a gorgeous hawk sitting on my neighbor's deck railing. I was so excited!! I've seen him around, usually in the sky, or perched on the neighbor's roofline. But this was the first time he's been down on "my" level. And as I stood there at the window watching, he flew over to MY railing, right outside my kitchen window! He sat there for maybe a minute, and for a moment or two, he looked right at me. Or so it seemed. And then, he was gone.

I felt it must be a sign of some sort....

This morning, I did a little research and found that the hawk as a totem animal was often believed to be "God" or His messenger. The ancient Egyptians (I knew this part) used the hawk and later the hawk head to represent the souls of the dead Pharoahs, their Gods. So, if this was a sign from God, in answer to my prayers, what in the world does it mean??

Hawks are patient. They will fly around for hours, looking for food to take care of their families; and if they lose their prey, they just try again.

Hawks have perspective. They sit up high, or fly up high, and can see all around them. They sit and watch, and wait, for the right time to take to the wing.

So, maybe he was telling me to be patient, but persistent. Take care of my family, patiently, and wait for the time to be right to move forward. And when I move, if it doesn't work out the way I had intended, try again. Be patient; have perspective; trust that the wind WILL blow beneath my wings again.