God's Got My Back

About a week ago, I emailed the photo of myself that you see here. I sent it to a dear friend and former co-worker who now lives in her homeland in Chile. The last time we saw one another was on a visit she made here about three years ago. I didn't even give the photo a thought.

She replied that she liked the photo and she couldn't get over how happy I looked in it.

That sort of took me by surprise. I hadn't thought I looked particularly happy, so I looked at it again. Well, yes, gee, I guess I do.

That made me wonder. Most of you know our household has gone through some very tough times of late. Somehow, we always manage to get through it. That, of course, is because I do have a very lively one-on-one with my Creator every night before bed, and because I always add to the end of any requests I make of him, "...and not my/our will be done, but yours." Then I try to leave it at that. This simple act takes the burden off of me and mine, and places it in his capable hands. He always comes through, although not, of course, as fast as I'd like at times.

Another dear friend and neighbor said something I thought was odd about two weeks ago. She was checking on our situation at home, and I explained about our car's being gone because of the blown engine, and how it was going to be resolved, and then I made some sort of joke about the whole thing.

She paused and said something to the effect that I was the only person she knew who could laugh during their troubles.

Well, I know I'm not the only one, of course. I do find that trying to turn the problem sideways and find something to giggle at, perhaps even if it's just the irony of the situation, helps a lot.

And, then, bottom line, I always know, deep down in my heart of hearts and soul of souls, that push come to shove (lots of clichés but I love them), God's got my back. What could be better than that?

Heavenly Father, I can't thank you enough for always being there for me. Bless my friends and loved ones, please, with the same sense of trust, comfort and security that you have given to me.