Plagued?

It seems we're dealing with some "plagues" around here lately. I'm not sure when it all started, and I'd hate to venture a guess. I wouldn't want to seem ungrateful or negative toward my life at all, by pinpointing times or events, especially since I have seen great blessings come from our so-called "bad times" recently. 

However, these "plagues" are the little things, and I always say when the devil is after you, he'll use the little things. The stone in your shoe, the earring back you can't put in that is making you late for church. Anything that makes you late for church, really. A bee in the car, run in the kids tights, baby spits up in the car, can't find the keys, and on and on the seemingly "little" things go until they become the very things that become your undoing. If you allow it, of course. 

Well, beginning with my medical issues in March, as if that wasn't enough, my list of "little" things just continues to grow. After I began having problems with seizures, I also started having panic attacks. That's a whole new world if you've never experienced one. In a word, it is fear. So I missed some special events, of course, but I also had to quit driving, which means I lost my freedom too. I still have not driven anywhere since March. My life has not been the same at all and I don't feel like the same old me. I have problems now that I did not have before and I'm finding it difficult to get back to "normal". 

Although our home is only 8 years old, things began to break one by one. The main board of our furnace broke on the coldest day of winter. Our drain field began to fail in the spring and we now need a new one. Our central air broke twice in a week, and the engine in our lawn mower cracked all in the same week. We found a bees nest in the ceiling of the room we just built a year ago in the basement, the ants are killing our yard and infesting our garden, and we now have a family of hawks tormenting us in our own yard. Someone has put a tree stand in one of the trees in the yard at the cottage up north, and so we are also dealing with blatant trespassers. The stand is up very high and our first attempt to take it down was unsuccessful. We're unsure what the retaliation will be if and when they discover that we have found them out. It didn't help that they stole our boat rope to use in the tree! 

This morning I decided to hang a load of wash on the clothesline even though I was feeling very tired. As I reached for the clothespins in the garage, I discovered a small mass of worms on the garage floor. Upon further inspection, I discovered the worms were in the entire perimeter of the garage! Not maggots, but some kind of larva or moisture worm I've never seen before. 

I spent the entire day, with the help of Serena, clearing and cleaning the garage. I haven't had enough energy to scrub a shower much less deal with a huge job like that. I am exhausted as I write this, but pretty impressed that I was even able to achieve that! That garage looks fantastic, and it inspired Steve to get the floor painted! Serena even made a cute little corner with all the fishing gear organized together. 

So did the devil win today? No! And he cannot! We have been facing each one of these challenges/plagues head on. Oh, sure, we've been frustrated. We've both had our share of tears. But we keep on keeping on, and we keep leaning on God for strength. 

Today could have been a different day. I had started the day out by feeling weary. I had a disagreement with my wing-spreading 16 year old and I was feeling agitated. My body was feeling worn from a not-so-good night of sleep. My mind was stretched from the worries I had allowed to seep in, hence the lack of sleep. I found myself in my room, taking a deep breath, but wanting to escape. I said aloud to the dog who just loves to hear me talk, "I need to get out of here!" Knowing I can't drive and having no options, I just asked God to help keep me busy. That's when I decided to hang the laundry on the line. 

Maybe the worms were a blessing in disguise? Only God has a way of taking what is intended for harm and using it for good, right? I do have a clean garage. We met a nice man named Nick who fixed our AC who likes dogs. I have people laughing at my hawk antics, and the ants? Well, there are more of them than people. My father in law lives right down the road and allows us to borrow his mower. The drain field...well, that's just a mystery. Maybe we'll learn something good later.  As far as up north goes, we just have to trust God to watch over the property and keep the wrong people out when we're not there. 

I keep telling Steve that no matter what happens, our blessings will always outnumber our "plagues"! And while it's hard not to notice the plagues that might pile up on us, we are making it through! We are blessed to have found ways to deal with them, even if it's a little stressful.  Maybe we're under attack, maybe we're not, but we're going to stay strong and emerge even stronger than before. But I think I'm going to plan for lots of naps in between... :)