Dryer Lint, Broken Dishes and the Promise of Peace
Some days my brain and thought process works just fine, like today. I was able to follow through with several projects and actually get them completed.
Other days, if feels like my brain is stuffed with an enormous wad of hormonally soaked cotton. I teeter on bursting into tears over not being able to remember to remove the dryer lint from the lint trap or resisting the urge to break all my dinner plates by smashing them against the kitchen floor.
Toss into the mix a mouthy teenage daughter and by the end of the day the administration of a medicinal cocktail is a requirement not a luxury!
The other side effect of all of this is that my tolerance for complications is almost non existent. Case in point, now that the girlchild had gradated high school the next logical step is collage. However, almost everything about the process of getting her enrolled into college has been an exercise complications, errors and a big fat waste of time and energy. None of which we had anything to do with.
To start with the IRS lost our tax returns, this mean that all of the financial aid hoops we had to jump though are null and void. Secondly, given the fact that it was the IRS's fault that they lost our returns, it is completely up to us to solve the problem. I mean why would one expect the agency to actually fix a problem they caused and resolve it to our satisfaction. Funny, they had no problem cashing out check! Next in line to get derailed was the girl child's HOPE scholarship. She worked her tiny little behind off to make the honer role so she is totally eligible, but the high school made an error and she was listed as ineligible for the scholarship. This is HUGE! So now we have two strikes against the process and classes have not even started.
My divining rod for complications is nearly bent to the breaking point. We are working with the powers that be at both the collage, the IRS and her High School to try and get this all resolved to our satisfaction.
During all these complications I find that I cling to the very small things that I can control. I feel fairly certain that on most days I can successfully manage to get a few rows added to a prayer shawl project. I can successfully feed my family a tasty dinner, I can enjoy the hummingbirds that visit my garden.
I think the best example, all this CRAP, the moments of testing are moments where my life is like my cast iron skillet. Seasoning comes from daily use, from simmering and searing off and massaging more and more seasoning into the molecules of the cooking surface. After many years of being tested by fire the result is a beautiful shinny black cooking surface. That surface did not happen over night. It took years of use and years of testing by fire.
All of these trials have another byproduct, difficulties draw me closer to God and His word.
In this life I will have trouble, that's a reality as well as a biblical truth. How I maneuver through it is up to me!
Other days, if feels like my brain is stuffed with an enormous wad of hormonally soaked cotton. I teeter on bursting into tears over not being able to remember to remove the dryer lint from the lint trap or resisting the urge to break all my dinner plates by smashing them against the kitchen floor.
Toss into the mix a mouthy teenage daughter and by the end of the day the administration of a medicinal cocktail is a requirement not a luxury!
The other side effect of all of this is that my tolerance for complications is almost non existent. Case in point, now that the girlchild had gradated high school the next logical step is collage. However, almost everything about the process of getting her enrolled into college has been an exercise complications, errors and a big fat waste of time and energy. None of which we had anything to do with.
To start with the IRS lost our tax returns, this mean that all of the financial aid hoops we had to jump though are null and void. Secondly, given the fact that it was the IRS's fault that they lost our returns, it is completely up to us to solve the problem. I mean why would one expect the agency to actually fix a problem they caused and resolve it to our satisfaction. Funny, they had no problem cashing out check! Next in line to get derailed was the girl child's HOPE scholarship. She worked her tiny little behind off to make the honer role so she is totally eligible, but the high school made an error and she was listed as ineligible for the scholarship. This is HUGE! So now we have two strikes against the process and classes have not even started.
My divining rod for complications is nearly bent to the breaking point. We are working with the powers that be at both the collage, the IRS and her High School to try and get this all resolved to our satisfaction.
During all these complications I find that I cling to the very small things that I can control. I feel fairly certain that on most days I can successfully manage to get a few rows added to a prayer shawl project. I can successfully feed my family a tasty dinner, I can enjoy the hummingbirds that visit my garden.
I think the best example, all this CRAP, the moments of testing are moments where my life is like my cast iron skillet. Seasoning comes from daily use, from simmering and searing off and massaging more and more seasoning into the molecules of the cooking surface. After many years of being tested by fire the result is a beautiful shinny black cooking surface. That surface did not happen over night. It took years of use and years of testing by fire.
All of these trials have another byproduct, difficulties draw me closer to God and His word.
In this life I will have trouble, that's a reality as well as a biblical truth. How I maneuver through it is up to me!
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Each day my dryer lint trap gets cleaned out and my kitchen
dishes make through another day is a good day in my book!
So, for today I am just wading through the trouble waiting for the peace.
Prayers that I don't bean someone in the head with said
seasoned cast iron skillet are greatly appreciated as well!
Blessings
R
Comments
Here's praying for better days for both of us!