Spilled Soup...

I hope that all of you had a great weekend.  Mine was a bit rough as I am still dealing with this ear infection.  So with that in mind… or more literally throbbing in my head, we experienced a low key and quiet couple of days.  In many respects Saturday was one of those few days that I would just as soon forget!  I would consider myself a pretty “up” person and it takes a lot for me to get “down”.  But by Saturday afternoon the pain on the left side of my head was getting old, my strength was zapped and Piper was having a weak day that really stretched my patience (not with her mind you, but with me!).

Then as I was preparing lunch everything fell apart.  Since it hurt to chew I had warmed up some soup for my lunch.  As I was pouring the soup from the container I heated it up in to a bowl, the container slipped out of my hand, plopped into the bowl and sent hot soup all over the counter, the stove and the floor!  Miraculously it missed me!  Needless to say I was NOT a happy camper!  Cleaning up the mess all around me did not look like fun, and as I was about to lose it, the Lord quickly intervened and helped me to praise Him instead of the devil’s ability to ruin my day!

Okay, so between the dog and I we got everything wiped up (or in Mandie’s case… licked up!).  With the final swipe of the sponge I wheeled around to the sink and in doing so knocked over a tall Mother’s Day mug that the kids had given Piper many years ago that I had been using as a container to hold any silverware I rinsed off during the day.  Well, you guessed it… it went flying through the air with the greatest of ease, the silverware like projectiles shot off in all directions and the ceramic cup landed in pieces across the floor!

And yes… that did it!  In total frustration I squatted down on the floor, put my head in my hands and screamed, “Oh God HELP ME!”  And you know what?  He did!  As I sat there trembling for a few moments I slowly felt a distant peace begin to prevail in my being.  I’m not implying that I had an immediate sense of calmness and well-being, but a quiet peace began to enter into our kitchen.  After a while I opened my eyes and had to crack a smile as my wife was staring at me with eyes as big as saucers, and I think that there was even a little glint of a smile in them.  It was as if she was trying to do what she always would do in a heated situation like that and begin to sing the simple little ditty she had written for our children’s ministry many years ago,

♫ “Praise, praise, praise… praise the Lord!

    Praise, praise, praise… praise the Lord!

    Praise, praise, praise, I will praise the Lord,

    Praise – the – Lord!” ♪

So once again, even if she couldn’t verbally or physically lend me a sweet little hand, her spirit stood strong and raised me up (literally!) from my depth of despair and got me back on track!

And what does all this go to show?  To me it is the simple fact that I have learned over the last five or six years… that the LOVE OF GOD is all that matters!  No matter what happens, no matter how awful you may feel, no matter how awful someone may be to you… the best medicine is always God’s love!  I may not be able to always control what happens to me, or how people think or act toward me, but I can control how I act or think in any situation, under any persecution… and I choose Godly love!

My personal response of love honors Him.  An opposite response of anger, nasty words and actions or even just giving up honors the one who caused the problem in the first place!  AND “as for me and my house, we will (do our best) to serve (and honor) the Lord!” (Joshua 24:15 KJV – parenthesis mine)

How will you respond?  Have a great week.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting (to serve) today?”