I can't help but think how blessed we are. These past couple weeks have been fairly trying ones. Here is the list of trials...
1. Very expensive, very needed mower flies out the back of the trailer while driving down the busy road.
2. Wedding diamond falls out in a stack of grass. Lost.
3. James gets a sore throat.
4. Drive all night to pick up replacement mower.
5. Did I mention is has rained alot? And when it quits raining, the grass grows faster because the soil is still wet.
6. My house is dirty.
7. I got bit by a dog through a chain link fence while weed eating.
8. I can't think of anymore right now.
Point of story. It is funny how all of these trials, some small, some big, some reoccuring (dirty house) seem to tie all in together. I lost me diamond a couple weeks ago. We tried like crazy to get them to honor the insurance we bought even though I did not have the maintenance signatures and certification card. They weren't really budging. I even took the diamond earrings in a family friend gave me for our wedding to see if I could trade those in for a new diamond in my ring. Turns out you can, it just means you have to spend a lot also.
Then we are finally getting some sort of a schedule to our work and I am driving down the road feeling very blessed and all of a sudden I look in the rear view mirror and watch the mower go tumbling out of the trailer and slide down the road while cars veer off to either side. I was pretty upset... I even cried and punched the steering wheel and then cried some more. My dear sweet husband who had spent all winter rebuilding it and maintaining it came to save me and only said that it was just a mower and not worry. We would be alright. Didn't even say negative things or raise his voice at all. He's awesome.
As we are driving to the dealer to get an estimate on the damage done. The jewelry store headquarters calls me and tells me that they are going to go ahead and replace my diamond with one of almost the same quality. Wowsers! Talk about low to a high! Then we get to the dealership and they tell us that our insurance might cover the mower!! (We are still waiting to hear...) The dealership lends us a brand new mower to finish out our mowing of 30 plus yards that week and off we go.
As we finish up the week of mowing... Saturday 9pm in pouring rain mowing a ladies yard that had not been cut for weeks... we head to our friend's house who saved us and let our kids stay there an even more absurd long time than usual and picked the kids up to head off to Lakeside. We left at 10pm and arrived at 7:30am the next morning. This trip didn't used to take so much out of us... I think we may be getting old. It is usually a 4.5 hour trip. Gratefully my Dad has an obsession with working crazy long hours also and he mows and he had a mower that we could borrow that would get our jobs done. I think he may be in business just to save our butts every time we need a mower. (This is not the first time. We are so blessed to have such a giving and unselfish dad.)
None the less, we have been trying to play catch up ever since. I am just so grateful that I am handed the trials that I have and not other peoples. I am grateful for the tender mercies that are an everyday occurance. I have only made it through these past couple weeks because I have forced myself to see the good things, the miracles, that happen every day. Friends ask me what I do...Here is an example day...
6:30am-7am wake up, eat breakfast, load of laundry (never fold, just wash and dry), start on paper work.
7am-8-30am paper work, mow our yard, billing, wash dishes, paper work, bids, etc
8:30am-9:30am see the kids, feed the kids, bath the kids, dress the kids, pack the kids diapers to go.
9:30- 10:30 drop kids off, and start Physically working (not just paper work)...
10:30am - 6-7pm work. this usually entails eating only fruit snacks, banana, sunflower seeds. mow lawns, start irrigation systems, dig in the dirt, load the trailer, unload the trailer, get wet, get hot, computer work in the truck in between jobs while driving.
6-7pm. pick the kids up
7-9pm unload trailer, bids, maybe make dinner
9-10pm put the kids to bed, scriptures, prayer, bath time (the kids usually get fed in here also... somewhere in evening.)
10pm-12pm You guessed it ... paper work, maybe dishes, laundry, ten oclock news.
This is probably more for me to look back at and laugh than anything. Oh what crazy people we are. We are so blessed we have work and we have the ability to perform it and support our family. We should not be getting all the calls that we do for work. I am amazed at how we find, more others find us and almost beg us to do work and then sit patiently while we run with our heads cut off trying to get it done. More we are blessed with everyone who help raise our kids. You guys are the greatest. I cannot thank you enough for loving my kiddos. It really takes a village to raise a kid... at least my kids.
Last point of story. If I didn't have these trials to get me through this life. What would push me? What pushed the Jaredites across the sea? Not a soft, pleasant breeze. A strong, powerful storm that threw them across the sea violently. And guess what. That wind was sent from a loving Father in Heaven who understood what it would take to get them to the promised land.
