When You Pray for a Peacock...

I've spent the past year hiking 4 or 5 days a week at the city park near the boys' school.  It's not my first choice, but it's close by and the trails never close even when it's muddy.  And then there's the birds.

There is a house on the far side of the park that has all sorts of birds, like ducks, geese, chickens, guinea fowl and the most majestic of all, a peacock.  Every so often, some of these birds escape and freely roam the park.  I saw the peacock for the first time about a year ago, and somehow it has become a Thing.  As in, I obsessively hunt for the peacock every time I enter the park.  We've even named it Kevin, after the bird in the Up movie.  

Every single morning I pray for God to show me that peacock.  There's no explanation for it.  And every so often, Kevin magically appears, usually when and where I least expect him.  

The past few weeks I've been praying extra hard for Kevin to appear.  Probably because we are five weeks into the school year, and I still have no idea what God wants me to do with my life.  I don't know if I am expecting an answer to appear on Kevin's back, like get a job or write a book.  Perhaps stop wasting so much time and drinking so much coffee.  But somehow this poor peacock has become a critical symbol in the middle of my mid-life crisis.  

This morning I was praying for Kevin to appear when I almost ran right into these two guys, some of the numerous guinea fowl which appear far more frequently than the solitary peacock.  I couldn't help but wonder.  Maybe God wants me to stop praying so hard for the mysterious peacock and just accept the slightly out of the ordinary guinea fowl.  Perhaps this is the answer after all.  

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.