When It Rains, It Pours

It seems like forever since I've written anything here. Sorry about the long pauses, life just carries me along! The Little One has been sick this week, and when he gets sick he's sick! The others have a little cold, but he runs high fevers, doesn't sleep for nights in a row and loses his usually voracious appetite. He is better today, but only after throwing up in my bed three times last night!

I've started attending a small group for wives and mothers at my sister's house on Wednesday nights. It's nice to go and be around friends. This week we talked about trials and how they bring out what is inside of you. Well, I guess God was trying to give me an advanced warning of the rest of my week. That night was the Little One's first night of little sleep. Then I started feeling sick. Then yesterday the flood waters broke loose, literally. I was getting brunch ready for the kids (a slow start to the day!) when I heard a gush of water. I turned around to see water streaming down the wall behind my sink, inside and outside the window. It was raining from the ceiling and pouring from my kitchen cabinets. Wow! I raced upstairs to try to find the source and discovered the bathtub had sprung a leak at one of the faucet pipes. Water was spraying a good four to five feet high, and was obviously pouring downward as well, into the floor and through the walls and ceilings below. Well, I ran down to the basement (fortunately I knew where the water shut-off was!) and turned off the water. Then I called Tony and let him know that we had a little leak and he should probably come home. He arrived and was assessing the situation when Sister Bear decided to dump her lunch for the cat to eat. This happened the same time the cat decided he was thirsty and spilled Big Brother's milk all over the table and chair Big Brother has been sitting at. And I had no water for clean-up. Oh, well. It was a test of my ability to handle little high-stress situations in rapid-fire succession. Like I said, when it rains, it pours!

The good thing about God is that He is always faithful to us. He always sends us reminders of His love and providence, even when we don't understand why those little high-stress situations need to pop up. Yesterday, starting before we even had a chance to begin the repairs on the pipes, a friend called just to chat. She had been thinking about me. She was able to encourage me and help me to laugh in spite of the circumstances. Later yesterday afternoon I received another call from a friend. She had actually been trying to call for over a week, but had always missed me until yesterday. She had encouraging words as well. Then, just after getting my kids down for a nap, my sister, Ruth, called to talk. It seems that just as I had been assaulted with trials and opportunities for discouragement, God was also showering down His love on me. Letting me know that He remembered me and my day. He placed it on friends' hearts to call and check on me and be a reminder to me that His love for me is steadfast and sure. Like I said, when it rains, it pours!!

One of the verses we looked at Wednesday was James 1:2-4. "2Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. 3You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. 4So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."
I'm glad that under the stress and in the trials our faith-life is revealed. It's good to evaluate where we are, and it's good to know that we are growing. It's also good to know that the same God who takes us through the trials loves us beyond anything we could imagine and desires for us to succeed. Not only that, but He cheers us on the entire way, giving us the hope we need to continue.