He’s Not Done With Me

I continue to be reminded God can use anything He wants to teach and grow me. (That is becoming a lesson within itself.)

And when He does, I am encouraged because no matter what the lesson or teaching moment is, I receive another reminder:

He’s not done with me yet.

I rejoice in that truth right there.

Wednesday afternoon my laptop became very sick. When your livelihood is tied to your computer, it becomes extremely important to you. I can’t begin to describe the sick feeling I felt all the way down to my toes when I realized it was critically ill. The files I’ve been working on all month were tucked inside and I couldn’t get them. To make me even sicker, I hadn’t backed up any of that work.

Lesson #1 – Back up your important files.

If my files would have been safe, I wouldn’t have panicked so much. If they disappeared, those words I wrote would be gone forever. You can imagine I was on my knees praying for my computer, and my files.

Lesson #2 – God cares about what’s important to us.

We can take all of our cares and concerns to Him. And so I did.

A friend of ours recommended a professional who might be able to help. Within 24 hours this professional had analyzed my laptop, restored ALL my files (Hallelujah!!! I think I heard angels singing!), and had a couple options for me. He wasn’t sure what caused the issue, but it was beyond repair. He wiped my hard disk clean, reinstalled all he could, and I had my working laptop back in my possession within 48 hours.

Thankful doesn’t begin to describe how I felt logging back onto my laptop and seeing all my important files intact. I, however, was humbled realizing how I had set my laptop and my work above my relationship with God. This realization was alarming to me, because I was consciously unaware I let this happen.

Lesson #3 – God wants to be first in our lives.

God deserves to be first in my life, after all, all I have–my talents, my possessions, my life–all come from Him. God used this experience to show me I had slipped. I’m so thankful He did. (And I’m glad to have my laptop back, too!) My thoughts and actions have changed as a result.

 

I am in the process of recalling many memories and documenting them. As I was doing so last week, I remembered how my three brothers and I gathered together weekly after our parents had passed away. It had been awhile since we had done that, so I decided to invite them over for dinner Wednesday evening. Just the four of us. (We all live within 20 minutes of each other.) I made Mom’s homemade spaghetti and sauce and Mom’s banana cake.

Laughter, smiles, recalling good and tough times, and enjoying each other’s company happened around my dining room table. It was the best three hours. I questioned why I let life take over and why we hadn’t done this sooner?

Lesson #4 – Make spending time with family a priority… no matter how bustling life is.

Gosh, I love my brothers so. We’ll gather again together with our families at Christmastime, and I plan to organize another just-the-four-of-us dinner after the first of the year.

 

I look over these lessons, and they are some I’ve already learned. But how quickly I can forget, and how I need reminders! Maybe documenting them will help me remember?? I’m praying that’s the case!

It’s your turn. What did you learn this week? Any valuable lessons? Any truths you were reminded of? I’d love to learn from you too, and I’d appreciate reading about your week.

So glad you stopped by today, friend!

Blessings!

Julie