Saturday, April 13, 2013

One of My Cup Half-Full Days


I had to force myself to make this a cup half-full day. Usually I can turn off the worry-faucet in my head and turn things over to the Lord. It’s been a tad touch-and-go these past six weeks, however.

Considering we (myself and my middle-aged nephew) are trying to live on my social security and his soon-to-expire unemployment, the fact that we are still afloat is a tribute to the Lord’s blessings.

In this past six weeks, we’ve had to unexpectedly put out hundreds for a bearing-job on our car. The car is still not fully paid for. We can’t get the title until we finish paying off the replacement engine they put in last year. Anyhow, so, there was the bearing job.

Then came emergency dental extractions for another several hundred dollars, for nephew. Still, it had to be done. His pain level was incredible – he was literally vibrating with pain most of the time. At least that is now gone (won’t discuss his other medical issues at this point).

And this past week, we had to lay out another couple hundred just to pass the smog and car registration renewal process. I do not like paying car repair bills but I don’t mind it they actually fix a problem. This, however, is because every car out there nowadays has a zillion sensors inside of them. There was nothing wrong with the car. It was because two oxygen sensors went. So that, to me, is “wasted” money. I hate paying for a contraption (make that two contraptions) that went flooey but which had nothing to do with the car’s actual performance.

Still, in each of these cases, we paid and do not owe extra on these things. But, to pay them, I had to use funds that were meant for utilities and rent. This means I am sweating things this month.

We have a community-wide yard sale scheduled in our senior mobile home park for the last weekend of the month. I don’t have a lot of “good” stuff. It’s all small stuff and this time around, I don’t expect to pull in more than $50 or $60 for the weekend, but sheesh, I need even that little bit.

So, today, I spent some time thanking  him for the fact that we were able to do those things that popped up lately. And I thanked him, in advance, for whatever he plans that will satisify our future expenses. It will work out – it always, always does.

And that is the cup half-full part of my nature…it enables me to sleep well at night, safe in his protection and care.

Sweet Jesus, you lived here on earth for over 30 years. You saw Joseph and Mary pick up the pieces of their life in a strange land (Egypt) and re-build his business. You re-located again when the dangers were over. Even back then, there must have been times when things were tight and when either your family, or the families of those you loved, worried about household needs. You explained to us about the lilies of the fields…this lesson you shared with us brings me comfort now. Thank you!

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