This Is The Stuff...

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am 4 days away from seeing my husband!!!! Unbelievable!! I can't believe I have made it through 71 days and now I am within 4 days!

This past week I've been having a love-hate relationship with time...I love that it's passing so quickly, but I hate that it is because I am having a hard time getting all my stuff done.

And speaking of getting stuff done, I had my week planned with everything I needed to do before we leave, shopping, hair appointments, church, all kinds of stuff. So on Wednesday I was going to go do all my last minute shopping for the trip and Karina and I get in the car and I put it in reverse and heard a crunch and I thought I had run over something but I didn't see anything so I keep backing up and hear this grinding sound and thought, Uh-Oh!

So long story short, I called my dad, described the sound and he tells me the breaks probably went out and not to drive it. Ok...Great. So in all these 9 weeks that Abel has been gone, I haven't had any problems with the house, the car, anything. Until 5 days before I leave. Really? Yes. So I called the mechanic and he says I can bring it in but he can't look at it till Friday or Monday. Really? Yes. Then my mind started going into what I call "GPS Mode" because I had to start saying "Recalculating, Recalculating" :) Ok, what was I going to do now? I have to get all of my stuff done and somehow get down to my parents house in Champaign by Monday. Hmmmmmm...borrow a car? Rent a car? Well, after a few phone calls, I had some really great friends step up and so VERY kindly let me borrow one of their cars till Sunday night when I will have my great sister in law take me to meet my family halfway, and they dropped my car off at the mechanic for me. So it all worked out in the end :)

In the middle of all this going on, I was at home and had the radio on and this song comes on by Francesca Battistelli called "This is the stuff"... Here's some of the lyrics:

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

45 in a 35, sirens and fines while I'm running behind...

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world


As I'm listening to this song, God just spoke to me again that all these "things" that happen in life, like having a broke down car 5 days before I leave :), that I needed to take a step back from my little "mess" and remember how BIG I'm blessed. This "stuff" is definitely NOT the stuff I would choose to happen to me to remember how I'm blessed, but it is the "stuff" He chooses to use, and I have to remember that verse from Isaiah 55:9 (the Message) that says:
"I don't think the way you think.
The way you work isn't the way I work."
God's Decree.
"For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think."

And also Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Lean not on your own understanding."

I don't know why my car broke down right now, but I know how "BIG" I'm blessed! God has shown Himself to be so incredibly faithful and has blessed me beyond what I deserve. I am humbled.

So the next time you have a "little mess" or experience the stuff that drives you crazy just remember how BIG you're blessed! :)