Now that it's not yesterday, I can look back on this week with a little more perspective. Yesterday I was having a pity party, and seeing only a need to change our energy or believe that things would only get better...they will be fine.
But why was I in need of this?
1. We're going on two months as a one car family. When Nels' car died, he hadn't yet decided what he was going to replace it with, and as busy as he is, that homework has been slow. So we've been carpooling, and fortunately, Mom B works in the same building as Nels, so she has taken him there sometimes, as her schedule permits, and sometimes he has just worked from home.
2. The garage door is busted. I think that was about 4-6 weeks ago. We've been parking outside except at night, then raising the door by hand, parking inside, and locking it by hand. On nights when it hasn't looked like frost in the morning, we've just left it out. But it makes for cold morning hands on the steering wheel.
3. Our yard needs some serious attention, and we're hosting a family reunion here this summer. I don't want to have family members jumping over the sticky weeds, or gazing into the weed patches. But hey, what they see is what they get, right? (I'm not going to mention all the needs INSIDE the house...)
4. A week and a half ago, one of our hot water heaters started leaking, putting out the pilot light. With the other one the same age, we had to replace them both, or find another option. We decided to go with a tankless water heater, and it took two days to get it up and running, but it still seems to have issues...and Nels stressed out about that costing much more than he wanted to spend.
5. That same time frame, the kitchen faucet started leaking. We had the plumber look at it while he was here, and said that it needed to be replaced, couldn't be fixed. So I looked online, found something I would like, and found it at Home Depot. Nels installed it. So, together with the hot water heater problems, and then with the water leaking getting worse and finally turning off the water, we didn't get all the dishes done for a long time.
6. Then Thursday night, (the same night we were installing the kitchen faucet,) the power steering on my van went out! So the next day after work I drove down to our favorite repair place, and they took one look at it and advised, "I wouldn't drive this two more miles, if I were you." The power steering pump had broken wide open, about knocking a more critical belt off, and if it came off, all electrical systems in the van would be shot. So I had to arrange a ride home from there, as well as a way for the kids to get home. I called several places about renting a van or SUV, and none were available yesterday. So we figured we could just get through the weekend, work out Monday, (the car place will work on it on Monday and try to get it done), and hopefully all is well.
Besides all that, an old crown in my mouth broke in half, and needs to be fixed, we have two people with cavities to fix, a couple who need to have orthodontic consultations, Nels bought (expensive) new glasses earlier this month that it turns out are no better than his last ones, Kimberly got glasses in Feb, I lost my bifocal glasses on Thursday, somewhere between Home Depot, WalMart, Smiths and home, (and my $store glasses' temple is broken), we had a couple of other prearranged minor medical procedures scheduled for this month, oh, and they say that if your TV isn't HD by the end of this month, you will not get any reception.
FINE! We'll go old school.
Easter will be much more appropriately focused (maybe even no candy!) I never got around to doing my shopping for that, even though most of it was for the Christ-Easter basket our family does every year...maybe I'll blog about that one on Monday, if I get to it, but see this website for the general idea. It's one of our favorite parts of Easter anyway, and I doubt the kids would notice if I use things we have around the house already anyway.
We don't need TV anyway.
Nels got a ride to a dealership this morning, so maybe, just maybe, he'll come back with his new truck!
I'll use my Dollar Store reading glasses with just one temple (ear piece) until I can get to the $store and get new ones, or find my own. (Maybe they're in the back of the van at the repair shop with all the cardboard boxes I was going to drop off at a grocery store for recycling!)
We'll walk to Church for Easter Sunday, we'll walk to the neighbor's for the Pinewood Derby car weigh in this afternoon. (We have two boys in that this year!) We'll hang around here.
After all, "All things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord." D&C 98:3 This we know to be true.
And really, I don't think I can rightly compare myself to Job; his problems were much more serious, much more life altering, and much more unfair, and he still gloried in God! So shall I. Besides, everything that is mortal is also temporary, and everything that is temporary is mortal, and they are the things that don't really matter anyway.
4 comments:
while the temporal stuff may not matter, we don't get through this life with out it. All these hiccups are opportunities for others to help, don't forget to let them. It is often difficult to feel those tender mercies when everything is going fine. I don't know why it all hits at once though. We are praying for you!
Oh, my, when it rains, it pours! Hang in there, and hopefully all will right itself soon. Going through dental woes myself lately, I feel that pain with you! And, if it makes you feel any better, you have until February 2009 to get a HDTV, and then you only need it if you don't have cable or satellite. So, there's one less thing to worry about! :-)
Oh Susan, you're lucky to have such a great perspective. . . things will work together for your good and having that faith makes it even more possible. Good luck.
Just wanted to send some sympathetic hugs your way! We all get weeks like that. In fact, I thought it was kind of ironic that the day before I taught Job last month I had to deal with several little annoyances and problems (like locking the key inside the truck) so handling adversity was fresh on my mind. I'm sure things will start looking better. Happy Easter!
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