Not for the Weak of Heart

The smell had been getting progressively worse.  I checked the drains in the sink.  I did numerous sniff tests around the kitchen.  I scrubbed the floor.  I threw the throw rugs into the washing machine.  Couldn't pinpoint it.  (I even had my husband down on his hands and knees sniffing the larger rug under our table!)

This morning I noticed the odor seemed a little more intense in a certain place.  I moved out a piece of furniture to see if food had been kicked under/behind it.  Nothing.

So when it was my turn to pray after Husband and I had read our devotional excerpt and he had read the 91st Psalm aloud, I prayed, "....and God, it's not a big thing in the grand scheme of things, but would you help us get to the bottom of this odor?"

We said our "amens" and got out of our chairs to put some action to the prayer.  THIS time, as I walked past the stove, the smell was unmistakeable more intense there.  Reluctantly (and being careful not to scrape our floor) we pulled the stove out, half expecting to see a m_ _ _e!

Whew!  There wasn't one!

Still we knew there was something SOMEwhere near the stove.  My husband went for his tools and removed the stove back.  THERE it was.  Electrocuted, apparently.  (My poor husband!)  I held a bag to receive it after he extricated it from its instrument of death.

We left the house shortly thereafter.  Before I left, I opened the window, took the lid off of two scented candles and put a saucer of white vinegar out to absorb the residual odor.

It's not a pleasant post, I know.  But there WAS a lesson or two in it all.

First of all, God answers our prayers--even the ones we feel "silly" praying.

Second, it usually helps to follow up our prayers with action.

Third, even after the prayer is answered, there is sometimes additional

action required to follow up the follow up!
Fourth (and finally), in the whole stinky process, I found a recipe card written in my grandmother's hand, an earring I'd lost,  AND a small, lovely plaque--all of which had slipped
between the stove and counter-top.  Unexpected benefits from a unpleasant task!.

Speaking of answers to prayer...

 our grand-baby went home from the hospital today--12 days after he was admitted!
What kind of prayers has God answered for you lately?