So Much to Figure Out

April 6

Saturday chore days wear us out here at Shiloh.  Last Saturday, I took the truck up the road to get a scoop of mulch and laughed to the lady as I checked out. I said, "Well, having a stroke in September and being fairly well recovered by April didn't have me miss a day of mulching season!"

The weekend warrior strategic plan here at Shiloh was daunting and the financial phrase of "cha-ching" was pinging in the back of my brain.  On top of the normal chores the windows all need to be washed, but now we might as well wait out the pollen splash. My husband's elliptical machine bit the dust two weeks ago and this now his computer/TV screen has died. Our beloved ole VCR on which our grands watch the videos their parents grew up on is legitimately defunct and eating the old tapes.  Sixty mile an hour winds were headed our way this past weekend and we were wondering if God might save us $300 and take a large dying tree down for us, but it's in the path of the house or the boathouse depending on which way the wind blows. We prayed ourselves to sleep that night.  The deer have demolished our shrubs over the winter and are probably salivating over the hydrangeas about to pop out. The list was going on and on. A new quote equivalent to "Life is a lot" tumbled off my tongue.

"UGH! There's so much to figure out in life!"

The good news is I'm able to figure things out without sticky notes to guide me and a headache or total exhaustion coming on from the process.  Yes, everything is still a bit slower, but I really feel the tide has turned in a major way.

In the same breath it is comforting to remember there are things we aren't capable of figuring out on our own!  God to be exact!  We just trust in His good, holy, perfect ways.

"This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: 'Call to me and I will answer you.  I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own." 

Jeremiah 33:2-3

Even in all his suffering, Job wrote about God and said:

"Take a long, hard look.  

See how great he is-infinite, greater than anything you could ever imagine or figure out!  

Job 36:26 

Thank you for encouraging me through this stroke recovery.  The doctors may never find out why this happened to me, but I totally trust God and the end results He is working towards in my life and the lives of others. Because of His love for me, I can say this has been for good.

Yesterday, the check-out lady at the grocery store told me that I seemed to be doing so much better.  I went around the counter and hugged her neck!  I told her that was such a boost to my confidence.  Saying that brought about a stroke epiphany.

Tomorrow I'm writing on confidence and how a stroke steals it....

(Funny, so many times when I type stroke it comes out stork! I would much rather have had another baby than a stroke.)