I approached yesterday with enthusiasm. I had gotten up and read my bible. I spent some time in prayer. (A note on prayer, sorry, I digress: I was in a home recently where I believed the family was Muslim. There was a prayer room and in that room was a prayer carpet. That carpet had knee marks worn into it. One could tell that the rug was well used. Let me tell you, it was pretty convicting to me as a Christian...hopefully you too if you aren't wearing knee marks into your carpeting!) Anyway, I had prayed. I began to start the rest of my day.
As I headed downstairs to make coffee, my kids began fighting over who got to help. Ugh. Of course they both wanted to stand on the same chair about 16 inches from me. Then they would fight over who got to do what. About 12 inches from all of us was an extremely hot toaster oven and a hot espresso machine. NOT good when you have preschoolers fighting in a small space, someone is bound to get burned.
As I was playing referee at 8 am my cell phone rang. Not a family member as I expected, but a realtor who wanted to show our home as it is on the market. So now I am faced with how to get my daughter to school and my house cleaned in 1.5 hours. No need for coffee now, I had adrenaline.
My husband took my daughter to school and I blazed around the house. Of course my vacuum was broken so I had to track down a loaner in the next few moments. No problem, my neighbor to the rescue. I cleaned everything from top to bottom and then some. I had the sweat rings to prove it. I despise back and belly sweat by the way. I managed to maintain my composure enough to get into some sweat free clothes and out the door before the appointed time.
What better place to kill an hour than....STARBUCKS!! Of course. I sat down and my husband ordered some coffees and chased after our 3 year old. After we enjoyed our coffees we decided to go for a quick drive to see a home we are considering buying. As I got into my car and my husband in his, he was quickly at my door. I guessed it within seconds. His car would not start. Mind you, it was about -15 with the windchill. Yes, MINUS 15. Those of you not from the Midwest, it is possible unfortunately.
My husband and I decided that we would jump the car. Of course there were cars on either side of his so we had to push his car to a new location. Now remember the temperature, my 3 year old son and an exhausted sweaty, hot(headed that is) mama are all part of the equation. Okay, yeah, no problem. Let me help you push your car honey (sarcasm included in this remark!). We managed to push it across the parking lot with me responsible for reaching my hand into the car to steer the wheel. Bad idea. I can't steer a car in reverse while in the drivers seat. I kept hearing the words, "Crank it. NO! Other way. Come on, crank it!" Okay. I was freezing and about ready to become very CRANKY from all the orders about CRANKING!!
I jumped into our car that was running with my 3 year old in it yelling, "I want to go home!" Yep. Me too son. My husband instructed me to pull our car in front of his so he could use the jumper cables. I began to protest while offering my opinion of how it could be done. My husband, bless his heart, simple closed his eyes tights. I think that must somehow help him not open his mouth and yell at me. So I jumped in and backed up quickly and pulled the car in front of his. (There was a bit of frustration involved in my backing up as I think I did about 30 mph!) I could tell by the look on his face I had not done as he wanted. So I slammed on the brakes, shoved the car in park and got in the passengers seat without saying a word.
My husband dropped the jumper cables while saying, "What are you doing?" What does it look like I am doing, dear? I am letting you drive since I obviously can't. He got in the car to position it as he had envisioned. I began to smell a burning smell. I looked out the windshield and down on the ground. The jumper cables were touching each other on the ground and were attached to his car battery. Smoke billowed and sparks began to fly...in 2 places. I yelled, "You are about to start your car on fire!! What were you thinking?!! I jumped out and separated the cables. After my husband got out and tried to jump his car, it would not work. I was mad at him and at the circumstances and was freezing cold.
In order to leave the car in the parking lot we had to once again push it forward and then back it up to straighten out my poor steering from before. When we got it pushed, all while freezing and watching a few people walk by and stare (I felt like yelling, "No really, I've got it. I am a very strong stay-at-home mom, I don't need your help pushing this big piece of tin!!"), we got in our car that was running and headed home to get some tools.
We fought all the way home. I was focused on the fact that we almost blew up a car in the last 5 minutes. When we were backing out of our driveway a few moments later I said, "Honey, can we pray??" Thank you Lord for the conviction of your Holy Spirit. My husband and I are a team. When unity is broken, all hell breaks loose. The enemy wanted a foothold. "Let's see if I can set this marriage on fire," I could hear him whisper! Well, PRAISE GOD that we separated the cables that were sparking! We recommitted our day to the Lord and armed ourselves with the Lord's might.
I learned a couple of valuable lessons yesterday. First of all, just because I get up and read my bible and pray doesn't mean that my day will go off without a hitch. I often say to myself, "Why is this happening today, I read my bible and prayed?!" Well, trials come to test our faith not because we have not prayed. Praise God that I did pray or I might have just driven away and left my husband at Starbucks with his car on fire. Just kidding. I would never do that. Secondly, I learned the importance of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. How easily we can squelch that still, small voice by yelling with ours. I knew that my attitude was wrong. I knew that I was allowing circumstances to influence my emotions. But, praise God that I was able to stop and yield to the Holy Spirit. Next, I learned once again the importance of unity in our marriages. We cannot accomplish much when we are at odds with anyone. Getting upset with my husband only complicated our circumstance. There was no one to blame in the situation. It was not any one's fault. Oh how our flesh wants to point its bony finger!! Instead, the better choice is to pray and communicate. One secret that my husband and I have discovered in these situations is to LAUGH!! Oh how good it felt a little later in the day to laugh at how dumb we both were. Laughter is indeed good medicine.
The final lesson is to let your husband do the driving when precision is important. This applies to our relationships too, gals. We are to submit to our husbands in everything. That is what God's word says. Mind you, we aren't to be doormats or rag dolls for abuse. But one thing that I have learned (almost) is that things work much better when you allow your husband to assume the position that God has given him as the head of the household instead of stepping on him while putting ourselves there. When we are obedient to God in this, God deals with our husbands and we are off the hook and out of the line of fire!!
