Two Thumbs Up!

Most of you know about my broken thumb. You know those coaches who told you in Little League to always "use two hands" when you catch the ball? Don't believe them…

I've been going to "thumb therapy" and, although I must admit I would not have believed it, it has really helped restore me to full strength after my period of brokenness that came out of a period of intense stress (i.e. a 100-mph softball).

I have found that life is much like this. Sometimes we experience periods of brokenness that result from periods of intense stress. What we need is some therapy to get back up to full strength. I have found that one of the best things for soul therapy is that quaint little phrase our parents taught us - "Count Your Blessings". God has been so good to us, we need to give Him thanks for all He has done.

Awesome God

Let me give you a peek into one of my therapy sessions…

A while back, around May 15th, our A/C went out. The repairman said that my "condenser coil" in our 15 year old furnace was out and it would cost about $1200 to fix it, but that I would lose all my investment if/when the furnace had to be replaced. Since our outside A/C unit is 20 years old, I asked about replacing the whole thing - $7500. Wow! This was one month after 1st quarter taxes were due and 1 month before 2nd quarter taxes are due (April 15th and June 15th). I don't get any paid time off as a consultant and had been in China for 20 days of the month of April.

Seemingly not the best time to have a major financial expense! I want to tell you that God is faithful to watch over His Word to perform it. We have been faithful with our tithes for 15 years. We have regularly given an additional 8-10% to missions. In the last 12 months I have taken off 6 weeks work without pay to fulfill God's call regarding Mission China. God's Word says that if we will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things (our A/C unit is a "thing" right?) would be added. It is His turn to come through.

Well, here is where you can rejoice with us. Rather than throw away the $1200 we were able to get the whole thing replaced for only $4300 (through a neat Christian outfit -Tri-County Heating and Cooling). The best part is we only had to take $1000 out of savings to cover the expense - even though my May paycheck was less than half of normal!

I've been so blessed in my life. It is all a result of God's faithfulness to His Word. It's times like this that I realize I really do have it made in the shade (Walnut Shade, that is).

Until next time,

Scott

This page was last updated on Monday, June 28, 2004