So the past couple of weeks have been interesting. Of course when I go back to work and get extra busy, is when things come up that need attention and "fixing." It's been pretty hot out lately, and extremely dry... and we received a little present in our front yard as a result. :0) We came home last Sunday after church and saw that there was water running down the street... odd yes, since it doesn't seem to rain here much, so Jacob checked it out and traced it back to our water meter. Since it was Sunday, that means that Houston Water isn't open, and no one was available to take our call to report our leak. So Jacob does his research and tries some things to see if the water is coming and what we need to do about it. Long story short, we decide to call a plumber and they come out and fix the pipe that sagged due to the ground being so dry. $350 out, not as bad as I thought, but still not a fun thing to spend money on. Then I get an email that our bill is in for the month, including the 2.5 days of consistent water use for $400. So we're up to $750. I'm thinking that that could have flown us somewhere nice for weekend... bought a ton of nice shoes etc. I'm planning on calling Houston water and I'm hoping they will give us somewhat of a break, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, as Houston has a population of millions and this has been happening to everyone. Here's a picture below of the nice little bird bath we provided for the neighborhood birds over the beginning of the week. :0)
So instead of thinking of how hard I work and literally my money was going down the drain... this is what I thought of. :0)
O, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me ever to adore Thee;
May I still Thy goodness prove, While the hope of endless glory
Fills my heart with joy and love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer: Hither by Thy help I’ve come;
And I hope by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood.
"O, to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Never let me wander from Thee, Never leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O, taken and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above."
This is absolutely one of my favorite songs and talks about the fount of blessings that flow constantly from God. He is so good to us.
So that whole watering the concrete was all really cool, the next I noticed about a week ago is that my engagement ring is having structuring problems. I had to have it rounded out last summer and that was supposed to strengthen it, but I'm wondering if the new break and separation on the side is due to what they did last summer. Who knows, but I'll have to call them and send it in to get it fixed. :0)
Again, in the efforts of not getting frustrated, this was the verse that came to mind. :0)
“In this you rejoice, though now for a while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of you faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
- 1 Pet. 1:6-7
The gold of my ring breaking really drove this verse home to me... my faith needs to be genuine, so that when it is tested it won't break like my ring! Haha :0)
So I have other issues too, you know, like the Chevy dealership not having my wiper blade for my car in stock when I brought my car in a month ago... I've called and they haven't returned my call to tell me that they have it and I can come pick it up (and yes I've already paid for it)... and Comcast of course charged us for the second time they came out to get the cable box, even though they didn't come inside the first time and didn't show up after the second time we called... so I have a list of lots of phone calls to make. These sort of things just really make me feel like people are silly, but really, when I'm unselfish and serious, I realize just how much we need God, because we all have so many flaws. No one is perfect, and there are many people living without God, who don't care about being honest with people and holding up high standards for their businesses. I have to remember that the only person I can control is myself, and I can't control what other people do. It's hard though, because I've been very frustrated by these things, and it seems like when they all happen in the span of a week it just compounds things and makes it worse. So I'm glad I've spent a few minutes reflecting of the better perspective to take, and hopefully I've encouraged you to do the same.
Thanks for listening, and hopefully things will look up soon, but if they don't, Oh well! Hope y'all have a good labor day and get some rest from your labors!! ;0)