06/14/2026
Ugh, I’m very grateful for a painful redirect from the Universe this morning.
After breakfast I somewhat rushed out to go write, then take a class, then meet a friend. I’d be gone for 3–4 hours at least. I had barely started walking in my summer flip-flops to the nearby café when something venomous stung my foot. Ouch!! I literally screamed out loud. It really hurt!!
Likely a wasp, because I could not see a stinger, but the sting site turned red fast and furious. It was simply way too painful to keep walking, and I happened to have a sting spray I made in herbal class at my house, so I decided it was too painful to keep going and turned around.
When I entered back into my house, I was met by a nauseating wave of gas odor that I had not noticed before I left; and sure enough, I had left one of the gas burners on with no flame. Not only that, I had closed all the windows because it got so cold last night. So there were my two sweet kitties, stuck in a gas chamber of their mama’s making. I threw open every window and door and rushed them outside.
That painful sting was clearly the grace of God at work. Sometimes what feels like a total inconvenience is actually protection, a redirection. Sometimes the detour saves us from something we never even knew was coming.
I can’t even tell you how timely that reminder is for the broader context of my life right now. For now, I will do my best to slow down and listen so God doesn’t have to get the wasp team (or worse) involved in my Divine guidance.