Hey Friends –
I interupt my normal joyful, encouraging blog posts to share with you what life has really been like at the Bultema house over the past two weeks.
Would you believe that 2 days before the Speak Up Conference (where I would be sharing 4 messages, as well as have 3 out-of-state friends staying with me)….
- The air conditioning in my truck went out (yes, during our 90+ degree days)
- Our home phone line went dead
- Our internet connection went down
- My home computer died. (yes, the one with ALL my talks and powerpoints) Done. Finished. Two days before the Conference. Ahhh!
Since that time….
- John’s bike was stolen from our driveway
- My girls have been fighting so much I made good on my threat and sent them to daycare for a day (and of course, they had a blast there). I give.
And then this weekend, right as I sat down to work on Bible study preparation (our new study starts Tuesday – yay!) – would you believe…
- Google disabled my gmail account and I couldn’t access any of my email.
Insert BIG LOUD CRY here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the last straw.
My poor Jake. He said, “What’s the big deal, Mom? You can just start a new gmail account”.
Oh my son. Wrong answer. I’d had it with frustration after frustration after frustration and was ready to lose it.
“What’s the big deal?”, I asked, in my nicest voice on the outside but on the inside I was about ready to ring his neck, “What’s the big deal, son??? When I have 100+ emails waiting for me to respond to. When women who are wanting to join the Bible study are sending notes and I won’t even see them? When I have an agent who is sending me a contract? When all of my contacts are stuck in googleland somewhere? When my whole account is down and they’re threatening to delete it forever?? What’s the big deal????”
“Sorry”, Jake answered sheepishly, “just trying to help”.
Friends, my frustration meter finally hit an all time high and I felt like I was ready to explode. It. was not pretty. 
Just keeping it real. 🙂
I wish I could say I did something super spiritual like went for a prayer walk or knelt and earnestly sought the Lord in prayer, but instead I quickly begged God to intervene and then called my dad.
Thankfully a few hours later he was able to help me restore everything (my folks even bought us a new computer, bless you Mom & Dad!) and all is well.
Kind of.
Of course I had to go back and make things right…with about everyone. John. My kids (especially Jake). God.
Anyone else grateful for grace??
I also took Chellie’s advice and made a gratitude list.
In the big scheme of things, it’s all stuff. We have our health. Our marriage is strong. Our home is safe. We don’t have lice. God is on the throne…and He is good, faithful, completely reliable, and True.
In the midst of “days like this”….if we keep our focus Up, it’s going to be ok.
How about you, friend? When was the last time you had “one of those days/weeks/months?”
How did you make it through? What did you learn?
Share with us please!
Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! Here’s to a frazzle-free, cool, joy-filled weekend!
Sweet blessings,
Cindy, I appreciate your honesty about the interruptions that can send a woman’s grumpy level accelerating from 0 to 10 in 30 seconds flat. You persevered through it! While you may not have knelt, you did walk through it and was able to spend some fun time with your kids in the process. Sometimes I go into the “I’m entitled to be grumpy so just stay out of my way and leave me alone” mood. After living that way for many years, I’ve learned I’ve wasted a lot of time living my “rights” of being frustrated and angry. Thanks for you honesty and transparency in the real moments of life. And we would have never known at Speak Up. You were cool, calm, and full of the Holy Spirit. I’m so thankful you were faithful to give us all that you did. Blessings – Brenda
Oh Brenda, You are so sweet! Thanks for blessing me today! 🙂
I would have snapped at just one of those things. You are allowed to lose it sometimes. What a crazy time… Oh, I have a perfect card I am going to mail you about “perspective.” Look for it soon. Miss you.
I miss you too, JJ! When can you come back and visit again??
and after all of that… you got back up!!! What an inspiration you are!!! All for the glory of our awesome God!!!
I believe that the devil works extra hard in the lives of those who believe and especially hard in the life of someone like you who is sharing God’s Word with so many people. How did you handle it? By praising God. Yes, it is a hard struggle to go thru all the things that are falling apart, but in the end it is all stuff. God’s plan is the Truth, the Light, and the Way. Thanks for being real, Cindy, becuz we are all right there with you dealing with the same issues just at a different address. Thanks for the inspiration.
Your honesty inspires.
oh, the days like that! i usually cry, write about it, talk to my husband and eventually get around to the gratitude list….
This just means you are in His will and the devil can’t stand it, but thank goodness grace trumps grouchy every time!
Keepin it real, that’s one of my favorite things about you Cindy Bultema:)