hope!

this week has been anything but easy...first, we arrived home from a great visit to kansas, but along with that comes tons of laundry and a very tired family! second, our washer went out in the middle of the ton of "coming home" laundry! third, the hot water tank had a somewhat enormous leak--the leak was going somewhere, though fortunately not into the house! fourth, my sis was making a deposit for me at our bank in wichita and they asked her if i was aware that my debit card had been compromised in the latest visa card breach! fifth, the brake light goes out on the army--fortunately my wonderful neighbor, Janell, is the one following me, not the cops--and she tells me at the YMCA later in the day! sixth, gabe and grady had a dentist appointment on thursday, and poor gabe had a cavity, and not because he didn't brush, or i am a horrible parent that lets my child drink juice or soda and eat candy from time to time, but because when his back molars formed they formed in an odd way, that doesn't allow the enamel to harden correctly, so the teeth are softer and more prone to cavities and unfortunately we didn't get the sealants on in time--so the poor kid has to have a cavity filled and sealants put on the end of this month--so by this point in the week i was asking myself, really?!! i only cried once--a miracle in itself considering i was sooo tired--on wednesday when the washer went out in the middle of a load, and shawn and i took the laundry down to the creek and beat them against the rocks!! okay, so i just said that to make sure you were listening...we actually took the clothes up to the bath tub and rinsed and wrung them and then took them back to the dryer to dry twice...we obviously don't spin as well as the washer! so, on thursday, i went to the 'ol scrub-a-dub in everett to do some laundry....and while the laundromat may not be my first place for entertainment, it definitely is not my last! it smelled a little funny, but with the interesting folks and the fact ALL of my laundry was washed and dried in an hour and a half...the experience was worth it! it was probably the most relaxed i had been all week--an hour and a half of peace and almost quiet--what more could i ask for! so, by saturday, i had a new washer, the fixer guy was putting in a new hot water tank, the brake light had been purchased, we had caught up on our sleep, things were looking up! we took the kiddos out to breakfast on saturday morning and then down to the mukilteo beach and park! it was just what the doctor ordered--i laughed and laughed watching the kids and myself spin ourselves dizzy on the toys at the park!! by evening, i was back to my old self, back in control--everything in the house was working, the debit card would be taken care of first thing monday--so we headed off to bed ready for another day of surprises! this morning we had kidstuf nw at church! kidstuf nw is a performance which teaches a different virtue each month--this month's virtue is hope! i know God put this performace on especially for me this morning! hope is.....knowing something good will come from something bad--during the whole performance i was going over everything "bad" this week and coming up with something positive! in the end, i thanked God that i had all of these things, a broken washer because i have clothes to wear, a leaking hot water tank because i am able to take a hot shower after a super rough day, a compromised debit card because i have money to buy the things our family needs, a child with a cavity because thank God i was able to create a miracle that has so blessed our lives, a broken brake light because i have a vehicle that can take us where we need to go, and finally a tired body because that means i was able to "go and do" and once i've rested up i will be able to "go and do" again! and through it all i have a husband that will stand over a bathtub with his crying wife and wring laundry after he has worked all day--because we vowed through good times and bad---Thank you God for giving me hope, and a husband who will love me no matter what!

spin and spin until you just don't care!!! and then laugh and laugh until you feel just great!