wonderful sunday

Life hasn't been easy lately. Yes, I know we get to go on some great little getaways/vacations, we live in one of the best small cities in america, we finally own our own home (and it's a really good one), our families & friends are wonderful, etc. But we have struggles, upsets, anxieties, and brokenness.

For example, one of the features that we like most about this house is about to be ripped up. A few weeks ago, we noticed water coming out of our living room floor. Two days before we hosted an awesome dance / birthday party (more to come on that someday.) For weeks we tried to figure out where the water was coming from, talked to our home warranty company, insurance companies, and other trusted experts. Finally, we called a plumber and he discovered it in less than 10 minutes. The pipe that carries the condensation from the air conditioning unit to the drainage area (?) in our garage was disconnected, so all the water was going under the floor. I know it sounds weird, but once he reconnected the hose, the leak stopped. we are thrilled at this discovery because originally, I envisioned our floor being ripped up only to find out that our slab was leaking or a pipe burst, and our house would have to be condemned. (I never used to be a pessimist.) So now we are waiting for a check from the insurance company (hallelujah!) to see how much we are going to be in the whole/how much we can spend on a new floor. Even though the leak has been stopped, the floor is warped and ruined. Not to mention all the water trapped under there. wonderful.

The floor has been one of our biggest stressors lately, but now our brand new (purchases in april) television is broken, so I'm waiting to hear back from the manufacturer. I'm skeptical yet thankful for warranties. hopefully this one will actually help us out.

And beyond those things, I just got done paying a huge stack of bills (including a bill from a doctor's visit I had february 2008!), bobby's out of pocket work-related expenses have been way higher than we anticipated, fundraising for our salary (beginning in september) has been a lot slower (and less productive) than we hoped, I'm depressed that I still can't rid of this extra weight I gained from last year's surgery & medication, and we are still childless which breaks my heart a little more each day. (after 4 1/2 years, it's amazing I still even have a heart.)

so what does all this have to do with the blog title, "wonderful sunday?"

yesterday, bobby led the worship service at our church and I stayed for both services because it was such a blessing to me. we sang sweet songs, including my favorite one that reminds me of our time at greene valley presbyterian church in pennsylvania, "on jordan's stormy banks I stand." it sounded quite a bit differently than when the band played it at gvpc, but I could still picture those awesome teenagers (and bobby) belting it out and banging on their instruments. I am so thankful for that memory. but also, bobby's sermon talked about disappointments in life and how to respond when "life" doesn't go the way we planned. it takes more than just "turning our eyes upon Jesus." Jesus didn't die so that life on this earth would be easy for us, or that when something bad happens, we just "look at him" and magically all our troubles go away. He died on the cross to share in our sufferings, to identify with our pain, to pay the ultimate penalty for our sins. Jesus claimed victory over sin at the cross. And we need to see his victory to put our troubles in perspective. I encourage you all to listen to his sermon. It's not posted to the website yet, but it will be soon. Title is "Jesus Wins."

After church we were able to enjoy lunch & fellowship with 3 other families. Our hostess made a fabulous lasagna and PW's chocolate cake. We were pretty full (in more ways than one) and tired when we got home, so we relaxed the rest of the day by watching a couple more episodes of season 2 of 24. (strangely enough, as I typed that, a helicopter flew over my house. hmmmm... are they still looking for kim bauer?!?!)

While struggles and agonies of this fallen world bring us despair during the week, I'm always thankful for Sunday. :)