It's crazy how the littlest things can throw us for a major loop! For the past two months I have really, really been looking forward to going to my Grandma's house for the 4th of July. I haven't seen Grandma since she came up to surprise me for my birthday in December. Plus my Mom, Dad and sisters are going to be there too. So Jimmy and I have been saving money for gas and making our travel plans. Then on the way to and from church camp this week our minivan started smelling like gasoline. Let me tell you that there is nothing that will make you feel more ghetto than five teenagers telling you that your van smells like gas. I thought that it might be a cracked fuel line and we had someone look at our car. However, he didn't see any leaks and wasn't sure what was causing the problem. So I am back at work today and Jimmy texts me and tells me that another friend thinks that it's probably our fuel intake manifold thats leaking and it could cost us as much as $1,200 to fix it. I almost had a melt down!
#1 That's a lot of money that we don't have and #2 it's bound to mess up all of our plans! What a frustration!
Still there was no justification for the way that I reacted to this situation. Instead of going to God I decided to cry and let my frustrations and possible disappointments overwhelm me. First of all, if I had allowed God to help me handle this situation I would probably have realized right away that it may not cost us $1,200 to fix the van. I might also have had the foresight to realize that there is still a chance that we will be able to continue with our original 4th of July plans before I spent all my emotions crying it out.
Does it mean that since I have had these realizations that everything is definitely going to work out all nice and rosy--No--but it doesn't have to be something that I let defeat me. Instead I need to trust that God has plans that are bigger than mine (Prov. 16:9) and that He knows what He is doing (Jer. 29:11). Also He promises to give me the strength to handle it through Him (Phil. 4:13). I just need to trust Him (Prov. 3:5-6).
So if you could please pray that God will work this situation to His glory and His purpose and resolve our transportation issues quickly (since this is the only vehicle Jimmy can drive) I would greatly appreciate it!
Grace and Peace,
Christiana
