Kindness - Day 3 - God's Laughing

Okay. Here's the deal. When you tell God you're going on a journey with Him, be prepared. Did you hear me? Be. Prepared. The nice little week you'd planned for yourself will not - will not- ease on down the road as you'd expected. No. What will happen is you will find yourself being tested. God will smile. And God will laugh.

I'm okay with that.

I'm a mom. I understand laughing with love at the foibles of my child.

What has happened in my world you ask?

(Deep breath) Here we go: Last week our fancy kitchen faucet (by fancy I mean slight improvement over builder's grade) stopped swiveling. That's bad. It's supposed to swivel 150+-degrees. No more swiveling. Then it was challenging to pull out the sprayer head. That's bad, too. Monday, I called our dandy warranty company and they arranged for the plumber to come out yesterday. This was where my exercise in kindness began.

The plumber was to arrive between 8-12. (You're already laughing. That's okay. Save some energy, though. It gets better.) He wasn't here at 2:00. I called the company and asked if he still planned on coming. Apparently he had a big job that was bigger than expected, he'd be here in an hour or so. Lovely. I called again at 4:00 to verify. Yes, he was on his way. The plumber called at 4:30 to tell me he would be here by 5:30. I was fine. I was pleasant. I was kind. Very kind.

"Sure," I said. He arrived at 5:30. Reeking of smoke. Wearing his dirty boots on my carpet. Came into my kitchen. Tried to move the faucet. And then... asked me what was wrong.

Seriously? You can't tell?

Deep breath.

He looked under the sink and then asked for my deductible. I wrote the check. He then said he needed to call my warranty company because ... he may not be able to fix it.

You're kidding me, right? So, he headed out to his truck. A few minutes later, the warranty company calls to explain to me that the plumber is concerned that if he takes it apart, he won't be able to fix it tonight and I'd be without a faucet for awhile - as in days. Ha ha ha.

I was kind. I was firm, but pleasant. The plumber came back in, talked to me for a few minutes, then left. When he left I had two options. I could get a new faucet from the warranty company that would be a downgrade (no, thank you) or I could buy a new faucet out-of-pocket and then pay the plumber out-of-pocket to install it (no, thank you).

Over the next 30 minutes I worked the phone and called the warranty company and Delta Faucets. Delta (excellent company, highly recommend them) is sending out a replacement, newer version of my faucet and the warranty company will pay the plumber to install it. All I'm out is my deductible, which the plumber so charmingly procured earlier. Now I need to wait until the new faucet arrives to finish the process.

For the record, in all my dealings with the representatives of the several companies, I was KIND. I wasn't sweet or anything, but I was kind. Although, I did feel as if I had just finished a marathon. And God laughed and nodded.

So this morning... ha ha ha

I turn on the tv and it has red shadows over everything. Woo-hoo! (That was sarcasm.) I'll spare you the details on this one, but long story short, the repairman is coming this evening to fix it.

Those have been the challenges. Let me tell you about the blessings of the past few days - the sheer, no silver-lining-searching blessings.

This morning my second son had a Muffins with Moms at his preschool. The kids had written books about their moms and shared them. My son likes it when I bake cakes, when we play puzzles, and he thinks I'm pretty when I come pick him up. *grin* Then I picked up my daughter who was at a friend's house. She had a good time there, no crying, no fussing. *grin* We left there to go to my oldest son's school to have lunch with him. He was thrilled to see us. His face could barely contain his smile. *grin* After lunch, little girl and I headed home. She was tired and worn out. She wanted to go to sleep, but would not stay in her bed without... having her teeth brushed. *grin*

Kindness - Day 2a - God is GOOD

Big questions today. My search to learn how God defines "kindness" led me to learn more about the fruit of the Spirit. This is what I've learned.

This is what the Life Application Bible (NIV) says about the fruit of the Spirit:

Commentary on Galatians 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of Christ's control - we can't obtain them by trying to get them without his help. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us we must join our lives to his (see John 15:4-5). We must know him, love him, remember him, and imitate him. As a result, we will fulfill the intended purpose of the law - to love God and our neighbors. Which of these qualities do you want the Spirit to produce in you?

So basically I can't make myself be kind by sheer force. I have to let the Spirit guide me to be kind. That's hard. HARD. What about when I want to scream and yell and be downright unpleasant? I'm supposed to push those desires aside and let the Spirit guide me to kindness.

John 15:4-5 -Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

This Scripture seems to be following me around lately. Clearly God wants me to pay attention. This is not going to be easy, is it?

So, remember the friend issue I told mentioned? Amen to being able to discuss it with kind words and from my heart. I didn't yell. I didn't cry. We'll see how things settle, but I'm pleased and I'm thankful. "Kindness" is the word of the week.