This too shall pass!

So long ago, I used to be frustrated with all the calamities we faced as a young family that I felt like I was being punished by God for my transgressions of my early adulthood. But I had an epiphany, so to speak, on October 4th, 1991. I won’t go into the details here but suffice it to say that I was struck with ‘wisdom’ that changed my perspective. And even though ‘calamities’ continued to come at us, I realized that each day, we woke up. The calamity did not kill us.

What changed my perspective? What I perceive as an encounter with God. And he basically told me that I needed to get my life straightened out or I hadn’t seen anything yet.

Fast forward to today. In the last 10 days, my wife has gone through major dental work, that has been complicated by an MRSA infection. And my brother’s stepdaughter, her husband, and two adult sons were arrested and 4 minor (under 6) children were taken into CPS custody. The charge is child endangerment. Because the 4-year-old ‘snuck’ out of the house and went next door without an adult knowing where she was. Now my brother has asked me for his half of the house (inherited from our dad who died 3 years ago) we live in so that he can pay the legal expenses for his stepdaughter’s family. This requires me to ask my daughter to buy my old house (that she and her husband live in) or move out so I can sell it.

I will add that quite frankly, this is nothing new to us. Compared to 2020, this is a walk in the park, and we did not feel the impact of Covid.

Our Pastor had said multiple times that this is just Satan, hitting us with calamities so we might go back down the rabbit hole. I stood on the patio a couple of weeks ago lamenting the latest (at the time) calamity, when I looked up at the crucifix we have on a post on the patio cover and smiled. And I said ‘God, looks like Satan is coming at us again’ and then added ‘we will get through this’

We told our kids what was going on. Our youngest asked how the money situation was going to affect them. I simply said ‘God will provide the solution’

The next day, I looked at our finances (scary thought with the economic turmoil created by the tariff wars). Well, look here. We have enough cash to help my brother if there is an emergency need, and enough to take care of us for a few months. And a big dividend check came in for both my brother and me. And I can sell the house to my daughter at a price she can afford, and that takes care of my brother and us.

God has provided the solution. We didn’t panic. We had faith and awaited God’s plan to play out.