Today I have a little story to tell. And I would like to change the names to protect the innocent me, but I have not. Yesterday after I arrived at work, my wonderful wife called me to tell me that she had heard from the people who work on our air conditioning/heater unit. We had been having some problems with it and had called them in last week to see what was wrong with it. We had discussed earlier that it was probably going to have to be replaced but we were waiting to hear from the experts.
The news was as we had feared. The entire unit needed to be replaced. It has run its course in life and there was no use throwing more money at it to repair it. My wife was calling to tell me that it was going to cost several thousand dollars to replace and that they would be here the next day (today) to replace the unit. I was not surprised but I really wasn’t thrilled at the news either. So I told my wife that it was fine and that I looked forward to having the new unit which would be much quieter than the unit we had right now.
After hanging up the phone, I have to admit, that I couldn’t help getting a little depressed. I moped around a bit, pitying myself, thinking about the money that was being spent. I took the opportunity to complain to any of my coworkers that would listen. This could not have come at a worse time, I thought to myself. (I work on commission and this is our slow period of the year.) It is always something! Just when you think you have things under control then something like this happens. Well you get the picture. I was dragging myself deeper and deeper into the pit of self-pity.
I’m not sure what happened but after about an hour of this gloom and doom, I realized something. I had the money to pay for the replacement of the ac/heater unit. I didn’t have to sacrifice food, clothing, or any of the things that we are used to having to pay the bill and provide heat for my family this winter. I was going home tonight to a comfortable house, because it is extraordinarily mild for January, and when it got cold (because you know it will) I was going to have heat.
God has provided for us. He has blessed me with a good job and the ability to earn the money to pay for this extra expense. He allowed us to save up enough money to pay for the new unit and still have some left over for any other emergency that might come along. (This would not have been the case just several short years ago.) This was not bad news. This was a blessing. The heating and air unit in our home had lasted over 28 years without having any major repairs or needing replacement. It had done its job and it was not time to get a more efficient, better unit to replace it.
What a blessing we have been given to be able to replace this unit. Many people around the world would have to suffer through the winter and summer without proper heat and air because they would not be able to replace or repair the unit. I am truly blessed. And I am now truly thankful to Him for everything that He has given us. I am even thankful now for the worn out heater because I have been given the ability to replace it.
Every story has two sides. So does everything that we face in life. Every situation that we encounter has two sides. One side is negative and the other is positive. It is up to us to decide which side we are going to look at. We can look down and be depressed. Or we can look up and praise God for all of the blessings that He has provided for us.
God has not promised us that life will be smooth with no bumps in the road. He has, however, promised us that He will provide. We just have to look in the right direction.
Are you looking up or down?
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Our attitude is a choice, right?
LarryTheDeuce recently posted..First Church Year #1
You are right, it is all a matter of perspective.