The Branch

Perhaps you noticed that I changed my picture. I started to post much earlier, but ran out of time after I changed my pic. I am blessed with the ability to sleep through just about ANYTHING! I got up this morning, having heard NOTHING between the time I fell asleep and the time my alarm went off. My usual routine is potty first, then to the kitchen and open the blinds. I opened the blinds and saw what you see in the picture. Wow! A tree branch had fallen on my beautiful coleuses! I went outside and pulled the branch off of them, but since it was sprinkling, left it on the grass instead of pulling it over to my trash can. I'd just come inside and a friend called me. She informed me it rained and thundered MUCH last night (or this morning), with accompanying lightning. Ok...slept right through it!

But...upon seeing the 'destruction' in my back yard, I was tempted to be angry. Why'd that branch have to fall on my beautiful plants and ruin them? But...I refused to give in to that temptation. YAY! Instead, I thanked Him that that branch didn't land 3-5 feet further south and land on my little table and/or my new umbrella! They could have been ruined beyond repair! My coleuses might actually grow back according to another friend who called much later in the day! That would be cool! So, the damage was minimal.

In younger years, I would have been very angry about this. So I was excited (not proud!) that I did NOT get angry, but chose instead to thank Him that it wasn't worse. Because it could have been SO MUCH worse! It could have been a much bigger branch. It could have damaged my roof. Instead, He just gave me a little test. I hope He's as pleased as I am. It's my desire to be thankful. The example of the ten lepers has come to my mind so many times over the last year or two. TEN lepers entreated Jesus, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" I'm sure you already know, but ONLY ONE turned back to give Him thanks! How sad is that? How much are we like the nine? aarrggh...do I really want to know? It could be different tomorrow. I might fail BIG TIME tomorrow on the same test, or a different one. But, praise His glorious Name, He isn't holding my next failure against me! Matthew 6:34 says, "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Isn't He wonderful?