What a Ride!

August 1978. Newlyweds. Jacksonville, Florida. Carnival on the beach. A Tilt a' Whirl. How Fun! Right? I wish. Actually, a more appropriate name would be The Torpedo. We were the only ones on the ride. Spinning. Twirling. Turning. Faster and faster. My head. Gravity held it. Pinned against the back of the car. My tummy. Unable to resist the torque. Drifted into space. So, so sick. Please stop. Please. I've got to get off. Crazed man at the control panel. Took us for one more whirl. I told myself: If. I. Ever. Get off of this ride. I'll. Never. Get on another one. And I didn't. Until recently. I feel like my life has become that Tilt a' Whirl ride. Terrible. Tumultuous. Torrential. And I want it to stop. During the past few weeks, we've had major home repairs. Now, I'm not referring to my little decorating projects. I'm talking about my darlin' husband had to tear the ceiling out of the downstairs bathroom. Because of a leak in the upstairs bathroom. Bust the tile out of the upstairs shower floor. Call the plumber. To the tune of $450. Install new ceiling downstairs. Upstairs shower still not repaired. Tile guys don't want to waste time on small-budget projects. This week, darlin' had to rip the floor out of the downstairs bathroom. Call the plumber again. This time only $300. Replace flooring. The endless. Trajectory of repairs continues. I won't bore you with further details. Well, ok. Just one more. All flooring in the downstairs has to be removed and replaced, including the kitchen tile. The chaos. The cost. the confusion. Will somebody please stop this ride so that I can get off? Things are tough. Do I see the mess? Sure. But I see more. I see our loving God. And I'm going to make it through this. I love what Paul writes to a group of New Testament believers: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3: 20-21). Don't you love this verse? He does more than. All we ask or imagine. How much more? Immeasurably more! How does He? Do immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine. He does immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine by His power. And His power is at work within us. Even when life becomes a ride that tilts us out of balance. Whirls us around mercilessly. And grave circumstances pin us against a wall. His power works in us. To strengthen. To sustain. To satisfy. Because He loves us. And He's in charge of the control panel. We don't have to ride alone. Sweet dreams, Deb