Worn Out, but not Broken

Great title, right?  As I read those words, I realize there can be so much meaning found in them beyond what I am actually using them to describe.

The transmission in our van is worn out, not broken.  This means the warranty that we paid for when we bought the van last August won't cover the necessary repairs.  I'm sure most of you are well aware, fixing your transmission is probably one of the most expensive repairs possible on a vehicle, and one of the things you can't really fix yourself either.  It figures.

But I can still praise Him in the storm. 

We were pretty excited this year for our tax refund.  We've got a long list of things we had planned to do with the money, many of them things around the house, and I was looking forward to getting some much needed new clothes and a new bed frame to get our mattress off the floor.  It looks like we'll be putting those plans on hold.

But the tax refund means we can actually afford to get the van fixed.  Praise the Lord for His provision!

I'm not going to lie to you.  It still totally sucks, and I definitely started crying on the phone with the warranty guy when he told me the news.  (I hope that makes you feel good and crummy, you cursed warranty company man!  I'm sorry....that wasn't nice.....)  But the only way to get through this without sinking into the pit of despair is to look on the bright side.


So the title of this post also pretty adequately describes the state of my spirit right now, "worn out, but not broken".  It's like the passage in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."  It helps to focus on knowing that God has provided, and we are able to have it fixed without going into further debt.

It also helps to have an overgrown garden that I could hack away at yesterday and vent off some of my frustration...  :)