Another Glimmer of Hope

This has been the week of Murphy's Law demonstrated at it's finest- what can go wrong, will go wrong!... and has gone wrong! Monday I had problems at work. Tuesday the van's alternator went out while I was on the interstate driving Maddie to her pediatrician appointment in Lebanon (which is 30 miles away). I missed almost the entire day of work dealing with it. Fortunately Rick was able to replace it himself... and I reminded him that he's my hero. But that evening Mira sliced her finger open and Joey dumped powder in his eyes and was screaming hysterically at the same time I was trying to calm Maddie down (because she got her 4 month shots earlier that day). Then Obama won the election and it seemed that it was best to just go to bed and check off the day as one giant loss. Surely, Wednesday had to be better. But it wasn't! Wednesday morning the garbage disposal apparently backed up into my dishwasher and when I tried to open the dishwasher, I flooded our kitchen with nasty, dirty, HORRIBLE smelling water. It took every towel I had to sop it up... and the water kept coming. The landlord tried to blame me and I had to argue with him. When I got home, the dishwasher had been completely removed! I still don't know if it's being replaced or if I'm expected to live with a giant hole in my kitchen cabinets or what. But I wasn't happy. Then while flipping on the bathroom light, we heard a POP and we lost power to the bathroom, my room and my bathroom. After flipping every switch in the braker box TWICE I still couldn't get power back to those rooms. So, because Maddie's sick with a nasty cold and I wanted to keep her with me, I had to sleep on the living room couch so that I could actually SEE her. Rick and I talked it through and it lookds like we'll be looking for a new place to live. However, despite all these things falling down around me, there was ONE new glimmer of hope. As we discussed moving and finances and all those stressful topics, he did share with me he is hoping to be moved home by Christmas. He said he'll move home when it feels right and he doesn't know when that will be but he's kinda planning to be here before Christmas. Of all the horrible things that have happened this week, that one small statement from him gave me hope. Being a single parent has taken its toll on me this week and Rick has had to come to my rescue whether he wanted to or not. But having him home to share the load and share the resonsibility of raising these 4 beautiful children will be such a relief. And last night was the first time he's been willing to sit down and figure out finances with me in probably over a year. He hates putting things on paper. But last night he worked with me and although this month is tighter than I like, we can make it work. There may only be $50 for groceries, but I can make that stretch. We've had periods where we didn't even have that! So I was reminded again last night at how faithful God has been to me especially during this time that Rick has been gone. Yesterday, Pastor Lindell and I discussed how to explain a "miracle" to the kids in our Preschool Chapel. I said to tell them that a miracle is something AMAZING that only God can do. Well, when I look at my life right now, I realize that God is working miracles in me every day. To work full time, have lupus, get 4 kids to 4 different places every day, stay up half the night with a sick baby, fight landlords, mop up floods, break down on the interstate, fix boo-boos, get kids to basketball and cheer practice, pay the bills, buy the groceries.... and do it alone... and still survive... it's a miracle. And that itself gives me hope that I can survie, I can continue pressing forward... and I can do it with joy.