PARALYZED

Last night, in a thunder storm, we had a power outage and a power surge. The surge (yes we have a surge protector...they aren't invincible, obviously) fried our video card--whatever that is. All I know is that it means I can't use my desktop. I can't get to a list of e-mail addresses that I need to send out a mass e-mail about providing meals for a family in our church. I can't listen to music. (Well I could, but I'd have to get out those cds, blow off the dust, and put them into a cd player.) I feel so stifled! I'm glad that we have a laptop and that I'm able to get on the internet and check e-mail. However, it's like trying to cook a meal in someone else's kitchen when they're not there. I don't know where everything is. Everything takes much longer than it would if I were at home. And I just plain miss my own kitchen and the familiarity it brings. To top it off, Duncan has just gotten slammed at work today and informed me that he probably will be putting in some long hours this week. I CANNOT complain, since this rarely happens. It just means the new video card purchase and installation probably won't be happening anytime soon.

Another fun thing that happened last night was that Duncan discovered about $100 worth of purchases on our credit card bill that we did not make. We had to cancel the card and transfer some automatic payments to another card. He spent a while on the phone trying to get that accomplished. Our plan was to go to bed early last night, but we didn't make it until nearly midnight.

Through all of this, I am reminded of God's goodness to us. The lightening could have struck a tree that fell on our house. Our electricity could still be out so that we wouldn't have air conditioning or refridgeration. We could have had something much worse than a credit card number stolen from us. We could be in a situation where we don't have a bed to sleep in ever. The point is, it could ALWAYS be worse and God uses trials, even when they're small like ours, to teach us and to draw us nearer to him. Fortunately, these trial point me to Our Heavenly Father and cause me to glorify Him that is the giver of all good things! Praise Him!