How often do you think about your roof?

It’s pouring rain outside right now and I, rather oddly for this point in my week, am giving thanks for our roof.

When the rain started, I dug out from under all the blog writing tools in my lap and went around the house, checking. Five skylights, none leaking. No water over the door to the basement. And tears rolled down my cheeks.

You see, we have a new roof. It’s been quite a production.

To be honest, we’ve needed it for a while. The old one was the least expensive version when it went up 20 years ago and a good 10 years past its official life-expectancy. Which is to say, this really wasn’t much of a surprise. It just hadn’t made its way to the top of the list until it did.

Many decisions were involved. How to get the most possible good out of wise spending. How to do some good for the rest of the world while we were doing good for us. How to invest in something longer range than a box of bandaids.

Going through this adventure has made me even more conscious than usual of all the souls on this planet who would be beyond amazed to have a dependable roof. To have choices about a roof. To be able to think beyond the next rainstorm.

We’re not done with the drama. There are several more adventures related to the roof yet to come. And there’s a good chance they’ll be just as much hassle in the doing as the roof has been.

The bottom line is that we are fortunate enough to get to choose the questions. Questions that affect us and our family and, with a bit of perspective and a smidge of imagination, you and your family and all the families who are our global neighbors.

I’ve learned, as many of you know, most of what I know about Civics from watching The West Wing. It’s not a perfect educational plan, perhaps, but it works for me. And I suspect that our roofing adventure is a fair model for what we, not only as Americans, but as world citizens, are going through just now.

When you get right down to it, it’s about the questions we’re asking. My prayer is that we ask wisely.

ps… the art work is a smidge of a painting known as Abundance Muse. For me, dandelions are not weeds, they’re a really good picture of hope, even in the rain!

pps… dandelions are prayer dots, too!