Last night, I was reading a bit of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan-- ALWAYS a challenge. The chapter I read was encouraging me to stress less. He defined that "stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control." He went on to say that being stressed conveys that "It's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional" and that it reeks of arrogance. Man!
So I did something I don't usually do. I hand wrote 3 Bible verses, cut them out, and taped them up around my kitchen (aka my office). They are:
1) This is the day that the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be glad in it.
2) Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS and again I say rejoice.
3) The joy of the Lord is my strength.
A few months ago, we emptied our savings to put a new engine in our only vehicle.
A week ago, that same vehicle's engine acquired a hard knock. So it's in the shop now, awaiting an official prognosis. We're not optimistic. Thankfully, our savings is up to where we could handle a pretty decent blow. Again.
This morning, I washed a load of towels in our sounds-like-death washer. When I put them in the dryer, it wouldn't spin. We had plenty of heat, but no turning action.
Really?
I remembered to those blasted verses I had posted no more than 12 hours earlier and thought about how God is a funny guy. But in all seriousness, I was able to take the hit in stride and with a sense of joy. I am worthy of testing :) And I'm excited to see how God pulls through.
