So…my truck was broken into yesterday. In front of church of all places. You ever get hit with a moment where you realize something horrible just happened and you can’t do anything in your power to restore the situation?
That was yesterday for me.
Interesting enough, though, knowing that, I remained as calm as a mother taking her third born child to the emergency room. Maybe my life’s history of two previous break ins prepared me for this or, perhaps, it was simply because I was hanging out (ok…working) at God’s house. Or, maybe, just maybe, the powerful spirit of God was reminding me that a shattered window and three lifted iPods wasn’t a big deal.
And you know what? It wasn’t.
My insurance company already replaced my window and are working to cover the cost of the stoled iPods.
I’m reminded and challenged, in situations like this, that my reactions towards life’s unexpected hiccups are defining moments in my growing character. Am I responding in a way that reflects God in me? Or am I allowing my flesh to dictate my circumstances? Don’t get me wrong, we need to mourn losses. We are allowed to express our dissatisfaction with life. We have every right to storm out in anger when unfortunate incidents invade our lives.
I’m not saying we should bottle everything up and pretend like nothing happened.
I am saying that we often times dwell so much and too long on those things we have no control over. What we do have control over is how we respond. We can either choose to mope around and blame the world for our demise or we can mourn the loss and move on.
Yes…it sucks that my truck was broken into. Yes…I’m bummed that my iPods were lifted. Yes…it’s bothersome having to file police reports, call my insurance company and take time off of my day to get my window replaced.
But it’d suck even more if I didn’t move forward onto the things in life that matters more.
How about you?
Let’s talk.
derrickengoy.us 
oh man. I was wallowing in the woe-is-mes all day due to my ongoing financial stress. Something happened today to make me fall into despair. But right now I read your blog entry. Man. Talk about supernatural slap in the face. I’m so sorry to hear about the break in and stolen iPods. But you are right. I need to move forward and not slumped over wallowing in the woe-is-mes.
That’s right! Nannette, I think we often times like to drown ourselves in self-pity for a slew of different reasons. But, it’s not worth it. I think about all the time I lost trying to control the uncontrollable past. We can control how we respond here on out, so that’s what I try to do.
The two of you couldn’t have said it any better. Derrick, I’m glad everything worked out to be replaced and Nannette, you are so right on moving forward. –>–>–>. But what if everyday it seemed like that…everyday you were robbed of was there and is no longer there? I’m simply talking about today’s military. When I was here in 06, the Army was tough and there was a line of discipline to be followed. Now I’m here 5 years later and upon arrival, I had a hard time adjusting to “catering to the new soldier.” Everyday, I’m asking myself those same questions in regards to my leadership skills and my spiritual walk.
1 Alibi:
But at the end of the day, we have a chance to recap on how our day turned out and our reactions and responses to them all. If we can say “I responded how Jesus would’ve responded in this or that situation,” we need to give glory for the day and pray to look forward to what lies.
That’s right James! Long time, by the way.