Recharged

I really am starting to think that I bought a lemon when I got my truck last year. Because I drive all the time, I wanted something safe, and because I have to carry a ton of stuff around with me, I needed something that had lots of room. So, I found a Volvo SUV. I do love it, but I have had so many problems with it. I mean, it even automatically goes over the speed limit sometimes and causes me to get tickets! Most recently, I have replaced the brake pads, had new rooters (I don't even know how to spell that....), replaced two tail lights, and now am facing new tires - I just finished paying for the new ones I got this time last year! Not to mention the monthly oil changes because of all the miles I have put on it.

So, today.....I go to leave my sisters house, get in, turn key - nothing. Battery: Dead. Thank goodness Andy was still there and came to the rescue. I couldn't find the lever to pop the hood. I couldn't open it after he got it popped. But, the real mystery was WHERE IS THE BATTERY? Don't most cars have the battery under the hood? That's what seems normal to me. I had to pull out the manual for this trick. Battery is in the back of the truck. What? After I had just loaded up the back of my truck with all my work junk....we had to move it all around, search under the carpet (that by the way, was still a little wet from a cooler leaking last week) and finally, the battery is located. I don't know how jumper cables work, but they are truly a miracle. One plug here, one plug there and POOF, a crank and it's running again. My lemon.

It made me think about my life over the past few months. It has been interesting, for sure. Challenging, most definitely. Stressful, you betcha. Impossible, I made it. I guess my life is like that battery, like my lemon. Bought with a price, paid for by His blood. I wear it down by not taking the time to just, be. I try to maintain myself, try to fix things in me that are broken or need to be replaced, but sometimes I just plain go dead, like that battery. I feel as if at times my relationship with my God is dead and as hard as I try to revive it, I just can't seem to get it to crank back up. Thank goodness there is that owner's manual that is right there for me to go to. The answers are always there, waiting on you. What a relief. Figuring out how to crank it back up and run again. Just as Andy was there to help me out, so are people that God has strategically placed in my life (you know who you are - shout out!) to help me find that manual, help me get the hood popped, help me find the battery and help me recharge it. Now that my battery has been recharged, I have to make sure that I know how to take care of it, should it happen again. I need to make sure that I take care cleaning it from the inside out. I have to make sure that I am ready for any other problems I might have with it. And, I need to make sure that I read that owner's manual, because I know I need it!

Suffering for Doing Good

"But even if you should suffer from doing good, you are blessed." 1 Peter 3:14

Message: "If with heart and soul you are doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you are still better off."

I think I am a good person. I think I do good things for others. I also know that I suffer, either emotionally, relationally, physcially or mentally. Regardless, I am humbled to know that in my suffering God still is going to bless me. It almost doesn't make sense to me.

When I stop and imagine what it is like to suffer the first thing that comes to my mind is physical pain. Burns to your body, being in a car accident, falling and breaking every bone in your body, some type of torture. Then it hits me....all of these are sufferings to the outside of your body. Peter also says "What matters is not your outer appearance - the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes - but your inner disposition." Regardless of the suffering and harm that is done to your outer body, God is always at work on your inner body. Removing the pain and suffering from within. Penetrating into your soul to replenish those moments of suffering and using them as blessings from Him. Our strenth is His joy.

Sometimes I can not wrap my mind around that old saying "why do bad things happen to good people?" But to those good people that bad things may happen to, the truth of God's word clearly says it here...."you ARE blessed"