Troubles or Transitions?

Thankfully, I’ve been blessed with hindsight. I used to think it was a useless ability. These days, however, I am relying on it more and more to help me get over the bumps on life’s road.

See, there are many, many times when I can look back and see that what I thought was trouble turned out to be a transition.

For example, back in ’01, we (myself, a dear family friend and her grown son) were looking for a mobile home. We thought we had the right one – perfect, we thought, for us, our budget, and for many other reasons. 

 

Suddenly, something pushed us, nagged at us, urged us to check with that park’s management, even though the seller had told us it was not necessary. We found that only two adults were permitted in the size home we were considering. We further found that the seller had no right to sell the home without a broker license. We learned this just one day before we were scheduled to hand over the money. 

Now this money was from a 401K, from a job I no longer had. We had also turned in our departure date to the apartment complex where we had lived the previous seven year. We only had two weeks, now, to find another home. Or, we could take another apartment. It was a mess – or so we thought.

Within a week, we noticed an ad in the paper for a home – the one we are at now. Much bigger, much nicer, great community. It cost a little more but the it was owner-sold and they agreed to carry-back the small difference. We came so close to losing our money on that previous bad deal.

So, what we thought of as a disaster turned out to be a transition – a transition to a home and a community that has made me very, very happy and welcome for over 14 years.

And that’s just one of many stories I could (and probably will) tell you about why I try to look at troubles as possible transitions.

Heavenly Father, I can only imagine my final trouble – I mean transition – from earth to your kingdom. Please help me to stay on your path until that time comes. Meanwhile, I will promise to try to follow your commandments. I will try to avoid stress by remembering all the times, when it looked so dark and scary when confronted by troubles, life was actually getting better. Thank you for your love and your care.