Blessed beyond measure. . .
In the past two weeks, my truck has broken down twice, and the heat at the lake house has gone out. . . and yet I loudly proclaim us to be blessed beyond measure.
Why is that, one might rightly ask? In the first incident with the truck, I was on the way to the lake house with my dog Solomon, and Jabez our African Gray parrot, when my power steering went out, and the truck started overheating, and stopped charging. I recognized those signs as the main serpentine belt on the truck had failed for that belt drives the fan which cools the engine, the power steering pump, and the alternator which provides electrical power. The timing of the failure was a supreme blessing in many ways. It was light out, it wasn't raining, and I was on a well traveled road, relatively close to a towing service. Jackie was already following a few minutes behind me along the same route, easily able to pick me up.
I called the tow truck company, they arrived mere seconds after Jackie pulled up. I was not familiar with any repair shops in the area, and did not know where to instruct the tow truck driver to take the truck, when he looked under the hood, and discovered that the belt tensioner had failed. The belt wasn’t even broken. He said that he could fix the tensioner himself. In every way this event happened in the best possible manner. He fixed the truck, and charged me a very fair price. . . so many blessings in this one event.
The second happening with the truck, maybe less dramatic, but still with the hand of God all over it. The truck wouldn’t hold an electrical charge. I thought maybe the recently installed belt, was too loose and the alternator slipping. The battery was only 11 months old, but to no avail I looked for causes. Finally in our driveway I could not get the truck started without a jump, so Jackie and I drove it to a local repair shop. It turned out the battery case was cracked, and had no fluid in it. . . but again I was never stranded way away from home. All my troubles with it were where help was all around me. . . again blessing after blessing in this apparent trouble.
Lastly this past weekend, Jackie and I were on our way to church, when the thermostat, at the lake house, display went blank. Jackie suggested that maybe the batteries had run out. I knew nothing about the thermostat, whether there were even batteries in it. I gently pried it off the wall, and indeed there were 3 AAA batteries underneath it. I replaced them, and we went to church, but when we arrived home, we still had no heat. The temperature in the house was in the low sixties and dropping.
The week before I had called Legacy Heating and Cooling, the people who work on our heating unit in Bristol, and had arranged for them to come out and check out our geothermal unit at the lake, putting it under maintenance. This was scheduled for a couple of weeks away, the same day we are having our wood stove installed. I called Monday, and explained that we were having a problem with our heat. . . or more accurately lack of heat.
Since I had called last Wednesday to have our furnace put on maintenance, they honored that and this problem was covered under maintenance, and only cost $45 for the service call. Everything about this is a total blessing. The timing. . . occurring after the holiday weekend, when we were preparing to go home anyway. It could have happened at the beginning of the holiday. There is no way for us to heat the lake house with space heaters, etc. The wood stove isn’t installed yet. . . It would have been extremely inconvenient it this problem had occurred Wednesday afternoon rather than Sunday afternoon. We are only at the lake 2 out of every 7 days. . . 28% of the time. This problem could have occurred when we weren’t there. The heat could have gone out and the pipes could have frozen without our even knowing it, thereby causing a major major problem.
Another blessing. . . in addition to all the above, all of these problems occurred in a month where I get paid 3 times. I get paid every two weeks, and twice a year there is a month with 3 pay periods in it, so I have an extra pay check with which to cover the month's bills. . . I weep in gratitude for all this. . .
Yes as a Christian we have problems, but even within those problems are blessings found. . . My disbelief was cast away, when I was shown in a vision, a dozen or more times in my life where I should have been in great trouble or even killed, but for a ‘lucky’ occurrence. . . Seen all on a string like pearls on a beautiful necklace, it was obvious to me that it was not random chance, but the hand of God in my life, even when I was denying Him. . .
Lift Him up. . . let all know the of goodness of God, that the unbelievers might see that He is alive and active in the world. . .
I love you my God. . .
Thank you for watching over me. . .
I Love you my Lord. . .
<3 br="">
Dave
In the past two weeks, my truck has broken down twice, and the heat at the lake house has gone out. . . and yet I loudly proclaim us to be blessed beyond measure.
Why is that, one might rightly ask? In the first incident with the truck, I was on the way to the lake house with my dog Solomon, and Jabez our African Gray parrot, when my power steering went out, and the truck started overheating, and stopped charging. I recognized those signs as the main serpentine belt on the truck had failed for that belt drives the fan which cools the engine, the power steering pump, and the alternator which provides electrical power. The timing of the failure was a supreme blessing in many ways. It was light out, it wasn't raining, and I was on a well traveled road, relatively close to a towing service. Jackie was already following a few minutes behind me along the same route, easily able to pick me up.
I called the tow truck company, they arrived mere seconds after Jackie pulled up. I was not familiar with any repair shops in the area, and did not know where to instruct the tow truck driver to take the truck, when he looked under the hood, and discovered that the belt tensioner had failed. The belt wasn’t even broken. He said that he could fix the tensioner himself. In every way this event happened in the best possible manner. He fixed the truck, and charged me a very fair price. . . so many blessings in this one event.
The second happening with the truck, maybe less dramatic, but still with the hand of God all over it. The truck wouldn’t hold an electrical charge. I thought maybe the recently installed belt, was too loose and the alternator slipping. The battery was only 11 months old, but to no avail I looked for causes. Finally in our driveway I could not get the truck started without a jump, so Jackie and I drove it to a local repair shop. It turned out the battery case was cracked, and had no fluid in it. . . but again I was never stranded way away from home. All my troubles with it were where help was all around me. . . again blessing after blessing in this apparent trouble.
Lastly this past weekend, Jackie and I were on our way to church, when the thermostat, at the lake house, display went blank. Jackie suggested that maybe the batteries had run out. I knew nothing about the thermostat, whether there were even batteries in it. I gently pried it off the wall, and indeed there were 3 AAA batteries underneath it. I replaced them, and we went to church, but when we arrived home, we still had no heat. The temperature in the house was in the low sixties and dropping.
The week before I had called Legacy Heating and Cooling, the people who work on our heating unit in Bristol, and had arranged for them to come out and check out our geothermal unit at the lake, putting it under maintenance. This was scheduled for a couple of weeks away, the same day we are having our wood stove installed. I called Monday, and explained that we were having a problem with our heat. . . or more accurately lack of heat.
Since I had called last Wednesday to have our furnace put on maintenance, they honored that and this problem was covered under maintenance, and only cost $45 for the service call. Everything about this is a total blessing. The timing. . . occurring after the holiday weekend, when we were preparing to go home anyway. It could have happened at the beginning of the holiday. There is no way for us to heat the lake house with space heaters, etc. The wood stove isn’t installed yet. . . It would have been extremely inconvenient it this problem had occurred Wednesday afternoon rather than Sunday afternoon. We are only at the lake 2 out of every 7 days. . . 28% of the time. This problem could have occurred when we weren’t there. The heat could have gone out and the pipes could have frozen without our even knowing it, thereby causing a major major problem.
Another blessing. . . in addition to all the above, all of these problems occurred in a month where I get paid 3 times. I get paid every two weeks, and twice a year there is a month with 3 pay periods in it, so I have an extra pay check with which to cover the month's bills. . . I weep in gratitude for all this. . .
Yes as a Christian we have problems, but even within those problems are blessings found. . . My disbelief was cast away, when I was shown in a vision, a dozen or more times in my life where I should have been in great trouble or even killed, but for a ‘lucky’ occurrence. . . Seen all on a string like pearls on a beautiful necklace, it was obvious to me that it was not random chance, but the hand of God in my life, even when I was denying Him. . .
Lift Him up. . . let all know the of goodness of God, that the unbelievers might see that He is alive and active in the world. . .
I love you my God. . .
Thank you for watching over me. . .
I Love you my Lord. . .
<3 br="">
Dave
Comments