Big or Small Problems

 

Last Monday, we went to the SRM concrete plant to buy 4 “trailer pads” to use as the base for a pergola.  Trailer pads are substantial chunks of concrete (4”X16”X16”) used in mobile home installations.  I went into the office to pay for them, and a worker was fighting with a new baseball cap.  He was trying to hang it onto a small pushpin on the cork board above his desk.  But it kept falling down.  He picked it up and hung it up again.  And it fell off the tiny pin again.  He saw me watching his dilemma, so I said, “Having a little trouble, aren’t you?”  And I smiled.  He nodded, shrugged, and said, “Would you like a free hat?”  And he tossed the hat to me.  I had a new hat, and he was relieved of his problem.  Hey, some problems in life are petty, like the hat falling off the little pushpin.  But other problems in life are huge!  May I remind you that the dear Lord can solve your problems big or small?!  Psalm 34:19, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all."  So today, let God deliver you from all of your problems.  He can … and He will!  Just ask Him.

Vinyl Paint Container

 

Marleen and I have been painting the church office this week.  I rolled the walls and wainscoting while Marleen cut in the edges.  After we finished painting Wednesday afternoon, I dumped out her vinyl paint container and brushed out the leftover paint back into the gallon paint can.  I like the vinyl paint container because after the paint dries, the dried paint peels right off the vinyl surface leaving the container ready for its next use.  So last Wednesday night, we were early for church, so I stopped by the office to enjoy looking at our progress.  The vinyl paint container was sitting there …  Something came over me, so I began to peel off the dried paint.  But I found that it had not quite dried.  Then I had paint on my fingers, and here I was in my dress clothes for church!  What started out as a nice evening deteriorated quickly.  Hey, often I get myself into trouble!  But I’m so glad that the dear Lord can get me out of my spiritual troubles!  Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  P.S. Don’t tell Marleen.  ;<)

Sock Mystery

 

Last week, I got a load of clothes out of the dryer and dumped them onto the bed to fold.  I like to surprise Marleen with folded clothes.  (still on the honeymoon, you know)  But, I had a single sock left over.  And socks are supposed to come in pairs.  So, I retraced my steps back to the dryer looking down at the floor.  But no sock on the floor.  I looked in the dryer, but no lonely sock left in the dryer.  I looked in the washer for a damp sock, but no sock.  I looked in the dirty clothes hamper for an unwashed sock, but still no sock.  Now I had a real mystery!  I rechecked each place again and found the orphaned sock in the washer!  But I had just checked the washer, and it wasn’t there!!  How did the sock just appear in the washer?  Later that day, I was sharing the mystery with Marleen and she laughed.  She said, “Often small items get stuck onto the drum when the front-loading washer spins the final rinse water out.  It must have just fallen down after you looked in the washer the first time.”  Mystery solved.  Hey, there are mysteries in life too.  Some things are revealed to us, but other mysteries are left to the Lord alone.  Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”