Howdy Folks,
Hope your day has gone great!! It’s almost Friday! I’m still not entirely sure why we get all excited about Fridays, other than the fact that we can sleep in on Saturdays. At least that’s why I get excited for them.
How have I been? Not too good. Right now, I’m in pain. I have these blisters that break out in my mouth when I get really worried or stressed. Which you think would be a deterrent to that, but I’m a little hard headed. It’s a bit like having a bad sinus headache, a toothache, and biting your tongue all at once. No es bueno!
Last night I was in a lot of pain, so I only walked a mile and then came home. This morning I woke up pretty much pain free. I was in a good mood, determined to have a good day! And then I realized my heating vent had filled with water. That shouldn’t happen, fyi. I went to sop up the water with paper towels, and water started gushing in to the vent. Somehow I had angered it.
After peeling back the layer of linoleum, I saw:
Then my stepdad came over, and he started telling me about things like replacing the kitchen floor (which I knew moving into the camper that that would have to be done), buying plywood, moving cabinets, finding leaks, and other such minor details. I promptly did what any stressed out person would do. I burst into tears.
After that, I cleaned out my lower cabinets, and we got to work. Then we started talking. About how I had never had, and never will actually use the gas stove. And how the sink could be moved over to the other side. And how the refrigerator isn’t deep enough. And somehow, looking for a leak in the floor turned into gutting my camper’s kitchen.
Which seems bad now, because I have no water, no electricity, no appliances, and oh yeah, no kitchen!! But the cool part is that I get to customize my kitchen now. I get to get new floors, new appliances, and an entire new floor plan!! Something I thought was going to stress me out even more and cause a lot of grief, has actually turned into something good.
That got me to thinking. Isn’t that just like life? Things get thrown at us out of nowhere. Plans change. People betray us. Life hurts us. Sometimes, it even just plain sucks. But if we look hard enough, maybe we can find the good in even that. The compassion of a family member to lean on, the friend rising up to have your back. The ability to rebuild.
Now I’m not all sunshine and rainbows. I know that some of you might be going through horrible things. There are people out there truly suffering. I’m not saying I believe in giving them a simple “look for the silver lining” quote, and then walking away skipping while they’re lying there bleeding. We also have to be willing to get down in the trenches, and fight and cry with people too.
For most of us (like me), pain of any kind is something we try to avoid at all costs. But sometimes it can serve a purpose. It can warn us when something is dangerous, and it is part of our physical and emotional growth. Pain can defeat us, or it can push us. We can let it fester and drive us under, or we can use it as a step stool to the next level. Each one of us has to decide what we will do with pain, for ourselves.
As I told you earlier, I went to bed last night in pain. This morning I opened up my Youversion app to read my Bible plan. The first suggestion it had for a new plan? “The Problem With Pain” was the title. It was about recognizing what causes you pain, and finding healing in it. Because of course. I think God might be trying to tell me something :).
Tweet me home, or find me on the face book.
Well save me a Diet Coke my friend, I’ll bring the ice. Blessings and Peace!
Helen
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