Miracles come, but they're not cheap

I believe in miracles! But I found out they can be pricey.

Miracle number one: We found a leak in a water heater that has been poisoning us for who knows how long.

But it required buying a new stove to find it. Our old stove broke, it was a piece of builder-grade garbage so we bought a new one. The new one also smelled really bad so I called the gas gusy to check it, too. They came and found a leak at the regulator. Upon being called to the house they are required to search all "gaseous areas" of my house. They found a leak in my water heater. Oh goodie for us! We were left with no hot water and no stove to heat hot water. There was a lot of whooping and hollering going on in the bathrooms last week.

The repairman came Monday, but found no leak. Apparently the smell was from the burn-off material from the factory.

Plumber comes next. He confirms there is no leak in the stove, but confirms the leak in the water heater. Goodie for us-- the water heater is under a class action law suit because it is a builder-grade piece of garbage. We tried replacing the part, but it broke after one day, leaving us with cold showers again!

Miracle number two: Hot showers, but it required buying a new water heater.

Miracle number three: Phoebe is alive.

The day that we got the water heater put in, and thought our woes were over, and our bank account holes plugged up, Phoebe got bloat. What is bloat you ask? A sickness in cows and horses, and dogs as big as horses! Her stomach and intestines filled with air and her stomach eventually floated up, twisted around and pinched off her blood flow to her organs.

That night I thought that she just needed to throw up from eating bark at the park. I put her outside and went to bed. I told Jared to leave her out until she finished throwing up. Something didn't set right with him and he went outside to check on her. He instinctively knew to roll her over and feel her stomach. It was a huge balloon. Her spleen had gotten so big that it felt like a nerf football inside of her.

Jared took her to the emergency nighttime vet where she underwent major surgery. She had to spend three days at our vet recovering. The doctor was amazed at how quickly we caught it and attributed it to our being "astute owners". Whatever! I sent her outside to her death! Thanks to Jared being prompted by the Spirit to know something was wrong we still have our dog. Landon said, "It is a good thing you have dad, mom." Very true!

So in a nutshell, all worked out for the best this week and we felt Heavenly Father caring for us. But it was pricey. :)