Steve at the appliance store told me when I called this morning, that it tends to go like this. When one appliance breaks, others tend to follow suit. What?!? Is there some secret message going out in appliance-speak that creates a strike of sorts, and all the things decide to attack our wallet at once?

If I wrote out my appliance woes over the past ten years, no one would believe it. I hardly can! I will say, Maytag and KitchenAid are on top on the list of words I hate. In the last 6 weeks, we have replaced our refrigerator, stove, and today, our dishwasher. (We’re pretending all dryers keep a cool rhythm while running). I don’t get to choose the models I want for the elusive kitchen re-do that is on the agenda sometime after the barn. Why do I have to settle for less, you ask? The same reason I can’t find organic cream of mushroom soup or horseradish. Stupid pandemic. I’m thinking the appliance guys, horseradish guys, and soup guys are all somewhere chuckling thinking of me going without. I pray you don’t have to try to get an appliance during this season. The whole thing would be hilarious — if it wasn’t so maddening and seemingly impossible.

And yet, somehow…somehow, even though buying scratched floor model appliances just adds to the absolute maniacal laughter of 2020, this is were I choose to sit in my mind…(note — it’s a choice).

Last night, as we slept sweetly and obliviously on our third floor, our dishwasher — that I hit start on around 9:00 last night — got stuck on HEAT. This means that when my sweet man came downstairs some ten or so hours later, the kitchen felt HOT. Oh, good heavens. We were so protected from devastation.

I have desperately asked our tiny, local appliance store three times, to come up with appliances for us that were not the above-named brands, and by golly, three times, with such a low supply that each time, we are all sure it can’t happen. And friends, they all match. Three floor models that happened to be the same brand and COLOR purchased within about six weeks of each other!! And when we went to get the stove, they marked it down half price because they found a cheaper price online!!!

When our kids were little and my sweet man and I had many a bathtub/crying/praying/what-are-we-gonna-do-now sessions, we learned to be thankful for the money to pay the bill. Even if it emptied our account, we chose thankfulness. In the grand scheme of things these appliances aren’t a big deal, and there are so many big deals going on around us.

Yesterday, two families we love dearly shared some heavy news with us. We spent the day praying hard for them — hearts kinda heavy. But you know, we can see how God has uniquely equipped each of them to have the emotional and spiritual resources to do what is set in front of them. Even if their account seems low, they know Who loves them and Who to trust.

It’s great to have pretty words and things to say in hard times, but it’s way better to have a loving hand to hold all the way through.

Crap happens. But watching the story of lovingkindness unfold in spite of it is what makes us do our spiritual and emotional *sit-ups* (as my friend likes to say. We change our hearts with a thank you, and our attitudes with an acknowledgment of Who we choose to trust every. single. time.

And He is faithful.

Have you found thankfulness to be a part of how you deal with the stuff that threatens to chop your legs out from underneath you? Give me your wisdom!