Friday, August 22, 2008

In all things give thanks

I Thessalonians 5:18 is one passage of scripture that I chose to exercise last Wednesday. It says:

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this
is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

I keep my two little grandchildren (ages 4 & 2 months) on Wednesdays. Our day started as usual. A little after 6:00 a.m. we were sitting on the patio drinking our first cup of coffee when the telephone rang. It was our son. He needed to bring the 2 month old to us to watch while our daughter-in-law took the 4 year to the doctor for an ear infection and so that he could get ready and leave for work. (We have a clinic that opens very early for working parents and their doctor does an early morning shift there before going to her private practice.) So before 7:00 a.m. our grandson came for an early morning visit.

Everything went well, our granddaughter only had infection in one ear. On the previous Monday, the baby had a round of his baby shots. So now both kids were on Tylenol. Our daughter-in-law picked them up, went home and got them and herself ready for the day and brought them back to me around 10:30 a.m.

Just a typical day until.........the kids and I were sitting in the living room and suddenly I hear a very LOUD hissing sound. No.. it wasn't a snake. It took us a few seconds to realize that it was coming from the hot water heater that is in the utility room. It scared the soup out of me. I wasn't sure about the hissing sound but I was sure about the WATER running all over my floor!

So, here I am with two sick kids, well...... one sick and the other recovery from immunizations and my utility room and garage flooding! I had the baby in my arms (who was cranky at the time) and quickly grabbed the telephone and called my husband while keeping the curious 4 year old with me .....at the other end of the house! Our conversation went something like this:

Him: "Hello"

Me: "Honey, the hot water heater is making a noise like 'hiissssss' (I tried to immitate the sound), water is running all over the place and I need you to come home NOW! I've got two little ones here and am not sure if this thing is safe to be around."

Him: "Okay, I'll be right there." (Mister calm).

After a while I realized it was steam I was hearing ... and I did not smell natural gas but it was quite loud .

My poor husband cleaned up the mess (really thankful for this) then went to town to buy a new heater. I caught him before he left and reminded him to buy a garbage disposal as well. Ours went out two days before the hot water heater!

So now the the above scripture comes to my mind and I realize I have a choice in how I am going to respond to all of this mess! I chose to start thanking the Lord for all the good things that happened in this circumstance.
Thankful because:
1. We were not away on vacation when this happened! (I don't want to even go there!)
2. That my husband was close by to handle it.
3. Brea only had one ear infected -- not two.
4. The baby was actually better than on Monday.
5. Hubby cleaned the mess :)
6. A new heater was installed within a matter of hours.
7. The water was off for a very short amount of time (hubby found the emergency shut off after the heater was removed).
8. I didn't have to take Brea to school today. (It all happened about the time I would
have normally needed to take her.)
9. We were not in danger.
AND
10. That God reminded me to be thankful.

When I started listing all that I had to be thankful for in this circumstance, I was surprised how many there were and how easy it was to list them.

Remind me Lord to always follow Your Word and Your Ways for they are always best.

Love,

Sherry


1 comment:

bethany@sippinsweetteablog said...

I love how your relationship with God colors every event in your life, good and bad! And what a teachable moment for those grandbabies, even though they're still so young.