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God's Adoption Trumps Murphy's DNA

I wish I was a Douglas Adams child.... that way everything could be tidily summed up to 42. Instead I am a Murphy's child, you know, of Murphy's Law fame. Actually I am a child of God but we'll get back to that. For now I am thinking there's huge strands of Murphy in my DNA.

I am expecting a few dollars back on my taxes and have spent the money about ten times over in my pointy little head. I need a comfortable chair to sit in, one that will not aggravate my neck and back injuries. I want a new kitchen table. Something smaller and easier to deal with would be good. I have medical bills, I have lots of practical things I could use the money for but finding comfortable seating is what I have decided to do. It's not easy when you're short and wide to find a chair that is comfy. Add a significant neck injury into the mix and it's almost impossible. It was a lovely day to day and I had to do some shopping and there just happens to be a furniture store next to the market and well, you know what I did this afternoon.

Unfortunately while I out looking for the right chair, the legacy of my Murphy's DNA was kicking in at home. My dishwasher stopped working. Tell me, Mr. Adams, how 42 answers this question; Why is it when you're not home and somebody else uses a major appliance of yours it breaks? Mind you, I don't think my roomie broke my dishwasher. It's 10 years old and it was bound to happen soon but is there an unwritten rule that says if someone else uses your appliance while you are not at home that appliance must stop functioning properly? I am fairly certain there is.

So, blissfully ignorant and thinking that a two for one recliner event would be a great way to buy a comfy chair to sit in, I got down to business and plopped myself into every chair imaginable. Nothing worked. As I was getting myself out of one chair, I saw a table that caught my eye. A round table with a leaf that made it stretch out into an oval shape. I want a table. I don't need a table. This one was perfect in dimensions and also had a sign on it that said 25% off. Oh I wanted the table... but I want to be practical too and while I can justify a chair that will help me relieve the pain I am in, I couldn't extend that to include a table and chairs. Ugh! I have been looking for a table for years and of course I would find it when I couldn't afford it! Starting to feel twinges in my neck, I stopped the search for a chair and went home. That's when I saw the note on the counter about how my roomie had thought about starting the dishwasher....until it made that unidentifiable noise. It sounds like a roulette wheel with a dentists drill and the clicking of a starter when the solenoid is going out. It's not a noise you can feel good about listening to, it screams "I AM BROKEN, TURN ME OFF!!"

I got that tight feeling in my brain when I heard the noise. The one that lets you know the chair and table are pipe dreams, you will be using your tax refund for a dishwasher or washing dishes by hand. Oh joy. Those are the minutes when the Murphy's child screams. Murphy's children are very selfish creatures. I had a 40% disability in my hands before I messed up my neck. Dishwasher now trumps chair. Somewhere in the pit of my stomach a growl is making its way to the surface. I know I am looking squarely at an invitation for a pity party and I want to RSVP with an affirmative. Before I can give in, God reminds me of my last post and how temporal these inconveniences of life are and how small compared to an eternity in heaven with Jesus.

Years ago, my friend Vicki told me once that here on Earth is the only time we get to suffer. I have been thinking about that for weeks. Just last night I told another friend, Carla, that we get to do four things here that we will never be able to do again. 1) sin 2)repent 3) suffer and 4) marry. Once we are with Jesus we can never again do any of those. That fact ought to really make a difference to us in how we approach them. Only marriage is optional. How we go about marriage, sin, repenting and how we choose to suffer are totally in our control. I am a child of God. I need to choose to act like it.


1 Cor 10:31
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Cor 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it

Heb 4:16
16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
(NAS)

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