Thankful for Potholes!

You’re speeding along life’s road and ‘Bam’ another pothole! A big, wide, deep, and black pothole. It jars your whole being, puts the skids on whatever you were aiming for and sets you back. Again!!! Will it ever stop?

Unfortunately, no, not in this lifetime. So, you check your tires, see if you can steer, and cautiously head out again. We do this over and over for ______ amount of years. And for what?

If I wasn’t a Believer, someone that hasn’t accepted Christ as my Savior, that would be a very hopeless and  depressing question. It would make me angry during the worst of times and cause me to want to give up, or actually put it into action. Life really wouldn’t seem to be worth much.

But because I am saved, and looking toward eternity where I will be with God and all those that are saved and have gone on before me, I can hang in there. My Hope is in Heaven. Not in this world. No, it’s not fun at times. Yes, there are moments when I wonder if it is all worth it. Why do we work and work and never seem to get ahead, why does something always break when we have the least amount of money to fix it…and the list of complaints and whining can go on and on and on…

If life were perfect: nothing ever went wrong, we had plenty of money, nothing ever  broke, personal relationships always worked out, our spouse and children were always compassionate, helpful people…all would be terrific…right? No! At the very least, life would be extremely boring and we would always be looking for the next, ‘bigger and better’. Wait, we do that anyway! Because we are people.

Our ‘pothole’ this past weekend was an ice storm/freezing rain that lasted from Thanksgiving to pretty much today. Winter arrived and made itself known. While gorgeous and sparkly, covered in ice, trees can only take so much before they break. In a quick tour of our small town, I think we were one of the worst yards for tree damage. Watching the limbs sag lower and lower with the weight of the freezing rain and ice build-up was pretty scary. Having a limb the size of a tree fall on the roof over our bedroom, well, rather heart-stopping to say the least. We slept in the front part of the house that night!

Yes, life can be discouraging. But it is only for a time. There is always a positive side to everything, a silver-lining to be found. Sometimes we just have to look harder than others. This past Thanksgiving weekend, I am thankful that no one was hurt. We didn’t sustain too much damage to our roof at first examination. I am so very thankful for loving, helpful children and spouses! Two of our sons-in-law were able to climb on roofs, use chain saws and help with the major yard clean-up. Our oldest helped as well. My job…an extremely easy and enjoyable afternoon with my two youngest and my grandchildren. All I had to do was laundry and make dinner.

Life is hard, it hits you where it hurts, over and over again. But it is also full of blessings around each and every turn. I wouldn’t want to live mine any other way!