Spot of Guilt and Bird Watching

~Yesterday was one of those days I yearn for most of the year. It was very, very rainy outside, yet inside the house I was warm and the coffee was fresh and delicious. All the animals were safe and sound and out of the rain( if they chose to be). The window above is one of my kitchen windows. It is directly over the kitchen counter where I do most of my food prep and where I am drawn to stand with my morning coffee and watch the birds at the feeder hanging just outside this window. There were so many birds ! Chickadees, juncos, pine siskins, a woodpecker, finches, towhees...and so on. As I was truly taking in the moment...fresh coffee, I was warm and comfortable, the birds were a delight, and I did not have to be anywhere else, well, I began to feel guilty. ~Miss Marple also enjoys the bird watching, but don't tell Hubby I snapped a picture of her. He would not take the time to snap her picture because he would have rightly shooshed her off the counter. Really, cats do not belong on the counter! I promise, I did shoosh her off the counter after I took the picture..and I did wash the counter top. But look at her, she is having a good time indoors on a rainy day too, and I am sure she is not feeling one single , itty, bitty smidgeon of guilt about it either. ~This is why I felt guilty. Look at the state of our state! We're flooded and mudded and landslided and avalanched to pieces around here. The mountain passes are closed , big sections of our Interstate are now covered in water, and actually, you could float a boat on them. Roads all over are under water, as are homes and businesses. Whole cities have been evacuated because of flooding and others are completely cut off because their roads have been washed away by mud or are under water. And here I am, luxuriating in being able to stay home and ENJOY the rainy day. What is wrong with me? ~When you shoosh Miss Marple away from one window she will always find another window to watch the birds and probably salivate at the feathered delicacies she could be eating if only I would let her outside. She can see the front bird feeder from this window. ~Anyway, about feeling guilty for enjoying the day. It is wrong of me, we are all given so much and to waste the precious moments fretting about this or that or taking on false guilt is wrong. As I went outside and took note of all the standing water around our place, the pond water level is over the island(our home is not in danger from our overflowing pond) and our neighbors pastures are all sporting flocks of swimming ducks and geese, I realize we are safe today. Tomorrow is another day and who knows what that can bring. Believe me, I can think up a lot of disaster scenarios here. But God is in control and if He allows disaster to strike us again, then He knows we can deal with it...so my false guilt and fear and worry are of no good value. Don't get me wrong, there is need for prayer and practical and financial help for the many families devastated by the conditions around the state, but guilt and lack of appreciation for what I do have, well that is wrong. ~Miss Marple and I went on with our day, watching birds and taking refreshment . I cleaned and put away Christmas stuff, she chattered to birds and twitched her tail. "Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting; to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labors in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward." Ecclesiastes 5:18 ~Blessings: good coffee, entertaining cats, birds at the feeder, enjoying rainy days from inside