Journey, an update 11-30-06

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. Psalm 116:7

Last week was Thanksgiving and I spent some time counting my blessings. Sometimes in the midst of struggles, challenges and changes it is easier to count trials and situations of trouble than it is to remember all of the blessings of the Lord. But I have been abundantly blessed and I am so thankful to God for His faithfulness to me, for His kindness, His mercy, His grace, His patience, His love....

Last Wednesday I was getting ready for Thanksgiving. After a miscommunication getting home from school I arrived home a little tired from school and language communication misunderstandings. I started bread dough for the Thanksgiving rolls and sat down at my computer. My computer shut down and told me Windows was recovering from a serious error. Not words I particularly wanted to see. I read the windows help on the error message and started to work on fixing it. In the meantime I was still getting up to work on the various stages of the bread. One batch had especially active yeast and overflowed it's bowl. Bread dough is sticky, no fun to clean up. In between running from the kitchen to the computer Gus got sick, twice.

Then I got the computer working again (after three more shut down errors) and got the bread in the oven, started the carrots and noticed that the kitchen rug was all wet. This led to the discovery that the water heater in the kitchen had broken and was standing in a cupboard full of water. God was faithful to protect me as I worked to get the heater unplugged without electrocuting myself. I was standing at my kitchen sink - water to the kitchen finally shut off, 12:30 am now, and thinking about how Thanksgiving day had arrived.

I wasn't feeling particularly thankful at the moment. I was thinking of all the things that have broken and gone wrong since I moved into this apartment. (The list is amazingly long). Then I started thinking about the timing of each one and how it often seems strategic that things happen when they do. That is the biggest reason that I ask for prayer for peace and protection in my home. I don't believe in coincidence. Trials come and they often come at times when I am trying to focus on something else, like a ministry need or God's goodness, etc. I need the full armor of God and His powerful presence not only in my life but surrounding me in my home. God has protected me from many, many dangerous situations this past year. I am so thankful for His protection. It was a reminder to me as I entered into Thanksgiving day that I need to choose to look at all that God is doing and be thankful rather than just focusing on the frustration of the moment.

God has truly been good to me and it is a message of rest for my soul even in the midst of challenges.