It's been a while

We've been running short on adventures over here.  It's been a few months.

Our number came up last night.  In the middle of the night, to be exact.

When I awoke to visit the bathroom (recall we're sleeping in the basement guest room) at midnight, my feet hit water.  I'm pretty proud of myself for only uttering a clean "oh no!" when the situation clearly called for much worse.  Audrey was in my bed as Nelson was on a business trip (he frequently misses the fun). When I turned on the light to see how bad it was, she awoke.  Now two of us were concerned.

Boring you with all the details will only, well, bore you.

By the grace of God I was able to get someone to come out today.   Five hours of work, and the carpet is now removed and my guest room is a shell.  Many prayers were uttered.  It would have been very easy to lose it today.  All I kept repeating was "I count it pure joy, when encountering trials" ( James 1:2. )

Why do I count it joy?  In the big picture of this life, water in my basement is hardly something to lose sleep over.  In a few months it will be forgotten, and perhaps even laughed about.  My house is still habitable, my family is safe, and thank God, we have a place to lay our heads at night.  These aren't small things, but it's easy to let the stress of a situation cloud our vision so that we are blind to the good in the trial.  James, in verse 2, goes onto to say that our faith, when tested, produces perseverance.  Oh to be a woman of perseverance!  Yet we can't get there without the trials, and that's often overlooked.  From now on, when God allows me to be tested through a trial, I want to "count it all joy" so I can be "mature and complete, not needing anything" (James 1:4).

For right now, however, the one thing I DO need, is a really really good night of sleep.

Sweet dreams!