This was supposed to be my last minute shopping day and I had many, many plans and "expectations" for today, but alas, things did not turn out as planned. First of all, I woke up with a headache. This doesn't happen to me very often, but I decided to just take it very slow this morning. So I didn't actually leave the house until around 11:00. The weather was less than wonderful - a steady rain (but thankfully not the ice that was happening just to the north of us). But I got soaked walking into the first store. I also got very wet at the ATM doing my deposit. Then, at my last stop before coffee with a friend, my car was totally dead. I mean nothing when I put the key in the ignition. Now this was extremely unexpected! We just got a new battery and less than two months ago, a new starter. I thought I was set for the winter. Thankfully Ken could leave work and come to the rescue. When he opened the hood to "investigate" he found that the battery connection was so loose that it just slipped right off! The car started right up! I was extremely grateful! While I was waiting for Ken to arrive I sent off a prayer request to my praying friends and I know that those prayers helped make this situation less of a problem. Thank goodness for praying friends!
By the time we got home with the car and got the battery cables tightened and the battery charged, the day was over. We really didn't want to leave the house this evening since we were expecting a couple of packages for Christmas via UPS. This morning both packages were tracked as "out for delivery". By 6:00pm we were slightly worried that they might not arrive. Fortunately, at 7:05 our doorbell rang, and there were our two packages. Yes, I am thankful for those UPS drivers who work long hours during this season.
And then, I decided to put on the movie. So we watched this Christmas Classic. And, once again, I was thinking about "expecting the unexpected". I just hadn't realized that I would need to be doing this in my day to day life. Funny isn't it that it seems easy to think about things from a spiritual perspective but much harder to think about them in regular life. Today I learned that I need to roll with the bunches and go with the flow. I also feel so thankful for the reminder of all the blessings in my life. I am ending the day looking forward to our family Christmas celebration tomorrow.
Jesus, thanks so much for friends, for movies, for Ken, for reminders to be grateful, for the UPS drivers, for the warmth of home and the sparkle of the Christmas tree. Thank you that in this unexpected day, I was able to keep looking at my "leader" and see the path that you for me today. Thank you for the message of the movie "It's a wonderful Life". Thank you for the plan and destiny that you have for each one of us. Amen
I didn't have a chance to tell you - remember I said I would ask where the joy was in having your car dead in a crowded parking lot? What I heard was that it was exactly where He wanted you to be. Whatever path He had for you today, it involved being in that parking lot for that amount of time today. Maybe had you left, there would have been an accident? Maybe the battery would have gone dead while driving and caused a bigger problem on the road? But we can give a joyous shout because it is a wonderful life when we are on his path for us! AMEN!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Becky! I actually thought of this on the way home that day. There are many, many worse places and events that might have happened! So yes, there is JOY!
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