A Redeeming God

  Last week was... a week.  Not really very good.  I got the new refrigerator that I'd been waiting for.  That was happy!  The delivery men dropped it off and put it on our front walk.  My hubby was going to come home later and we were going to install it ourselves in an attempt to save a $60 installation fee.  I took off the box and admired the beautifulness.  I was in love.
   I was a bit disappointed that my hubby couldn't get it inside until after supper.  But, after the dishes were done, we went out and measured the frig and the doorway just to quadruple check our measurements.  Sure enough it would fit through our doorway.  We have 3 steps, a landing and then another step up to our door.  We had borrowed a nifty little lifter thingie to help us get it up the steps.  It all went pretty well until we tried to fit it through the door.  Long story short, we scratched the soup out of the front of my brand new frig.  I was sick.  I wanted to cuss.  (I didn't, but it was tempting.)
   We got it inside after much stress and frustration.  We moved the old frig outside, got the ancient frig up from the basement, and moved the old frig down to the empty spot in the basement.  We didn't get to bed until 1 a.m.  (Note to all who will be getting new furniture or appliances, just pay the stinkin' $60 and let the professionals carry it inside.)
   I told myself that it's just a thing and in a few years I won't even think about it.  (It's gonna take a few years though.  Just sayin'.)  I began to praise and I was able to come to terms with a scratched frig.  It still makes me sad, but we're working on ordering touch up paint.

She has pretty good balance for being so
little.

   Two weeks ago we had purchased a new iPad.  It was a Mother's day/Christmas/birthday/anniversary/any-special-holiday-for-the-next-two-years, gift to me from my wonderful hubby.  I quickly fell in love with it.  I had spent a little more and purchased a keyboard to go with it, essentially making it a little laptop.  It saved me time and steps.  I was having so much fun with it.  (*sigh* Notice the past tense?)
   The next day after the refrigerator debacle, I was using my iPad on the kitchen table.  My almost 2 year old wanted to play a game on it.  I got one up for her, but because she was out-of-her-mind tired and nothing was going to make her happy, she threw a fit.  Because my little angel can climb like an agile mountain goat, I decided to put my little toy up high to keep it safe. I put the iPad up on top of the frig.  BAD IDEA!!!!!  I wasn't used to the thicker doors of my new frig and hadn't pushed it back far enough onto the top of the frig.  I opened the door and my precious, expensive iPad came crashing down and shattered the screen.
    I was sick.  I couldn't even speak.  I was standing there holding my broken toy and my 3 year old was demanding a drink and a snack and any other thing she could think of.  I was thoroughly irritated.  I bit her head off and made the dreaded phone call to my farmer.  (Relax, I apologized to her later.)
  I felt AWFUL.  I was SO upset.  When I bought it I was given the option of buying Apple Care.  Which is basically like insurance in case something like this happened.  We decided not to purchase it.  (Note to all who might be buying an Apple product.  GET the stinkin' insurance!)  I knew that it was going to cost $300 to replace my iPad and I was sick.
  I cried out to God and asked Him why this had to happen.  I couldn't think of a single way that He could possibly redeem this horrible situation.  My farmer goes out into the heat and works hard everyday to provide for us, and here I had just added to his burden.  Honestly friends, words cannot express just how horrible I felt about the whole deal.  I decided to surrender it to God and trust that He was in control of the situation.  I tried to praise, but it fell a bit short.  I turned it over to God and told Him that He was going to have to give me words of praise because I just couldn't muster a thankful thought to save my soul.
   There were a few other rotten things that had happened to us in the last couple of weeks and it was just too much for me.  I was thoroughly depressed.

No, I did not put her up to this.  She likes the washer
for some reason.  I catch her trying to get in it sometimes.
I know, I know, it's dangerous, but if I shut the door so that she can't get in,
the inside gets moldy and smelly.

   My man called me that afternoon and he could tell that I wasn't doing so well.  I cried buckets and let it all out to him.  Which, to be honest, is really not like me.  It usually takes quite a bit to make me cry.  He comforted me and told me that everything was OK.  I felt better knowing that I had his forgiveness in the matter.
   I took my toy into the store and put in an order to replace it.  Today I was cleaning the van when my farmer stopped in to talk to me.
   "I have an interesting story."
   "Oh, really?"  ("Honey, don't put your dirty feet on the seat.  I just vacuumed. *This to my 22 monther.*)
   "A few months ago when I bought the new welder for the shop, they sent me a chance to win a sweepstakes.  I thought, 'What the world.  I might as well enter.  I haven't got anything to lose.'  So I sent it in."  (This is a very rare thing in our household.  We never send those things in.)

She's a happy little scamp!

  "YOU WON?!?!"
   He nodded and smiled.  "How much do you think I won?"
   I guessed, but was wrong.
   "How much is it going to cost to replace your iPad?"
   "You won $300!!!!!"
   He nodded and I dissolved into tears.  He walked over to me and gave me a great big hug.  
   God is good.  I had asked Him to redeem this situation somehow, but I really couldn't see any way possible to make it better.  But He was already taking care of me months before I knew that I would need the money.  I am still shaking my head in wonder.  He is SO GOOD!
   I still have a scratched refrigerator, but I think that paint is on the way.  God took a dumb situation and turned it into something that has given me the assurance of His love and care for me.  I'm so very, very grateful.