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The past two days were not the best ones I've had. Nothing major; just a lot of little things that added up to a lot of frustration. It began Sunday evening when a storm went through and knocked out our power. I called the power company and was told it would be back by 9:30 PM. It came back on around 8:30 AM the next morning. I had the opportunity to remember what it was like growing up trying to sleep in the heat without air conditioning. Not a great memory. When the power did come back on my computer and Internet were not happy. The Internet connection kept dropping out after about two minutes of use which meant I couldn't send out my e-newsletter or do any of the other things I needed to do Monday morning. I made a trip in my old work van and discovered the a/c had leaked out the coolant again. Another discovery you don't want to make when the temperature is hovering at the 100 degrees level. Due to the heat we decided to order a takeout dinner from a local restaurant we normally enjoy. Not the best meal we've had. Oh, yea, my car had a flat tire on Saturday. In fact, it was the same tire I had just had put on a week earlier after that tire went bad. A very frustrating weekend.
But do you know what? I still have much to praise God for. This was one weekend. Many people around the world live in this heat without a/c their entire lives. I made have had one bad meal, but some people would be thankful they had a meal to eat. Our son and his family were in New York to watch his son play in a baseball tournement, and they made it home safely. Our daughter and her family spent the past week in Panama City Beach, and even though their first couple of days were impacted by a tropical storm, the rest of the week was great, and they also made it home safely. I have a family who loves me, a ministry that God has given me, a wife who supports me, and a dog who makes us all laugh. Life is good, and one rough weekend won't change that.
Even in the rough times God sends moments of great joy. While visiting a church Sunday morning a woman came up to me after the service. She told me she used to attend another church in which I had filled the pulpit one Sunday about five years earlier. She went on to tell me how important that message was to her. She reminded me that I had preached on how our faith can be an anchor for us when going through the storms of life. Later that week their young daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. This lady said that she played that sermon over and over again in her mind over the next several months. She said it was what she held onto when things seemed overwhelming. I was humbled that a sermon I had preached five years ago in a church in which I had never been before (nor since) would have been used in such a powerful way in the life of a family I had never met. What a blessing to have encountered this lady this past Sunday morning!
Now that I think of it...maybe this weekend wasn't so bad after all.
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