Today didn’t start out too well. I woke up late and that means no time to journal and spend alone time with God. That in itself can guide my day in a bad direction. Today came with an extra detour, we had no water to the house. We have a well system and are currently in drought conditions. Not a good combination.

We noticed the breaker for the pump had “popped”, so my husband flipped it back on. It immediately “popped” again and was joined by a boom outside and black smoke billowing from our water system. This is just one more thing that has broken this month. This just adds to the thousands of dollars that have been spent fixing things this month. This could have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. We could have easily wallowed in self-pity and asked God, “Why us?” We didn’t.

Mark, sensing my despair and seeing my tears, sent me off to journal and spend much needed time with God. I opened my Bible and landed on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Seriously Lord, You want me to rejoice in this; this mess? As a matter of fact, He does! So, we did! My family kept me laughing all day. We saw the beauty in each person we met. We blessed each person we met with laughter, love, and encouragement. We gave it all away. “It” being the joy of the Lord.

While we waited for the repairman to get here, we laughed. The kids jumped on the bed while we got buckets of water for flushing. Getting buckets of water involved Mark scooping it out of our reserve tank. Mark and I walked around our home looking at all of our trees and blooms. Mark is the funniest man I have ever known. I am sure some people would find offense in the words that he was about to speak to me. I saw them as his way of easing my weary bones and reminding me of Who our source for everything is. As I sat on the lanai, basking in the sunrise, Mark says, “He (meaning God) said He was making all things new, but He never said we would have to pay for it.” I immediately began laughing. Those laughs that begin in the belly, bring tears to your eyes, and you smile with your whole face. While I was still laughing, he continued his stand up routine and said, “If Jesus paid it all why are we broke?” I thought I would pass out from laughing.

The truth is, God is making US new. He is renewing our attitudes, our trust, our reliance on each other and Him. Jesus did pay it all. He paid for our eternal lives. Jesus doesn’t deal in money, He deals with our hearts. He is renewing our faith that He will always provide; in every way. We have literally spent thousands of dollars fixing all the things that broke this month. That money was made by my husband’s sweat. Mark worked so many side jobs to rebuild our emergency fund and poof, it was gone. He will do it all again to make sure that money is tucked away for the next broken thing. Things can be replaced, but people can’t. We will forget about this in a couple years, but had we been short with each other this morning; that we would have remembered. To see the growth in my husband and how he handles stressful issues that are beyond his control is a miracle. To see my faith and trust grow is a miracle. God is making Mark new; He is making me new. Our children witnessed us working together with joy and laughter in a situation that could have broken us in more ways than one. They will remember our responses of laughter and team work for a long time….I hope.

After getting the water back on and the house back in order, we focused on tasks and errands that needed to be done. We decided to divide and conquer. Mark took Livvy with him and I got wild-man Matthew. You never know what you are going to get with Matthew any given day. He marches to some unique band that only he hears. I love that boy! We had three stops to make and to a six-year old that is two too many. Staples first to pick up something for church. When the lady immediately handed me my prints, Matthew said, “That was easy!”. I started laughing knowing that is Staples’ motto. An employee standing nearby told Matthew that was their saying and they even had an “Easy” button. She took him and showed him the button. Of course he wanted one. I told him he could have the button or a milkshake. He wanted that button and I am so grateful he did.

Next stop was the Dollar Tree to pick up toys for the children’s Easter event at church. (Side note: I just now realized that all three stops were for our church and each broken thing in our home came the day after serving the church in some way. Satan can’t stop us.) Matthew had his button and showed it to the cashier. She loved it and people around asked him if they could hit his button. He obliged in pure child-like delight. He had something that was bringing joy to others.

Our final stop was at Wal-Mart to pick up fabric to hide something at church. Matthew was sitting in the cart with his button. I do not like going to Wal-Mart and going with him often makes it even more annoying. So, I decided to play a game with Matthew and unsuspecting customers. I would get close to a customer and when they pulled an item off the shelf, Matthew would hit the button. I would crack up laughing because we timed it so well it was like “that was easy” to choose their item. Customers would turn around and find us scurrying away, laughing our heads off. Up and down each aisle we went, making our day and many other’s day. I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt. I have never had so much fun at Wal-Mart. I simply relished in the silliness of my miracle boy. I was reminded of all that I am blessed with and I rejoiced and gave thanks…for everything.

Our day of rejoicing continued through the afternoon and late into the night. An early birthday gift from our daughter Samii wrapped up our day. The gift was a deck of scripture cards. We randomly pulled one out. Psalm 29:11 “The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.” It really was that easy to choose joy, peace, and praise. Don’t get me wrong, it took us a lot of practice, trial and error, and tears to get to the point where we automatically choose joy. We don’t always get it right away, but we don’t linger in self-pity as long either. It’s your choice. Choose wisely. Choose life. Choose joy!

We fell asleep with immense gratitude for EVERY thing God has given us. Yes, even the trials He allows us to walk through. There really can be peace in the valley for you and me.