Freezer

The Memorial Day weekend was wonderful, full of family and activities, and I had stayed by myself overnight in Austin to clean and get the house back in order. The freezer had accumulated a wall of ice, and as I was doing the wash and picking up, I decided I might as well work on that too!   I had worked the system once but now realize it only band-aided an ongoing problem with the freezer. I decided to try once again; turned it off, waited for hours as it defrosted, and wanting to speed the process up a little as it was now nighttime, I dismantled the insides, took out the shelves, unscrewed the back panel and began to chisel the thick solid ice which had accumulated.

I chiseled a little too hard and later found out that I had punctured a hole in the evaporator coil. The spewing sound was heard immediately, but because it was surrounded by ice it was impossible to detect exactly what I had done, I only knew I had gotten myself in some big trouble.  First I wondered about the safety of the house, then my safety, and then when those things seemed to be ok,  I wondered how I was going to fess up to my husband, who already considers me to be a border line lineage of Lucy Recardo.  I called my friend Jan whose first response was "I get impatient too, with stuff like that."  Patience was not even on my radar.  But she clearly nailed it.  It was impatience, and a little stupidity, but she was kind enough to not bring that up, and talked me through my jolted emotions.

So I stewed, called two repair companies, one who I had done business with a couple of times before, and solicited the first response, which was not the one I was familiar with. Jimmy came out first thing and the runaround on what needed to be done was quite confusing.  For he had to deal not only with the problem I had instigated, but also the original problem that was causing the ice wall. The dollar signs just kept growing. When Tim, from the other company called, I told them that I had to go with with the assessment call that I had already set up. Tim couldn't have been nicer and after I had explained the problem, he was very sympathetic, said if that doesn't work out you call me back and we will see what we can do. I told him I would have wanted him to do the repair but I had to take what I knew I could get, as I had not yet heard from him. I told him I would pray for God to untangle this. There was something about the way he affirmed me that made me know that he understood what the prayer thing was all about.

After a payment for assessment and a returned call from Jimmy the next morning relaying additional price adjustments on the high side, I said, sorry I am going another route, called my guy Tim back and was on track for efficient repair.  God clearly had worked me through my one more calamity. Tim was professional, experienced,  fair, reasonable, kind hearted and transparent.  He got the job done, and my last hurdle was telling my husband why the repair was really so expensive.  Timing is everything, and I have found it is often times better to fess up after you have solved the problem. His response was gentle but very firm and asked me to please stay away from things I know nothing about, for it is costly when you don't. 

It all worked out but the stress in the meantime resulted in battered fingernails, restless nights, and continued regret. This was just a freezer, my word, how can I get so worked up over a freezer. And then I realized it is not the freezer; it is my response to the freezer, my impatience with the freezer, my bad judgment in working with the freezer, and my bag of guilt that I carried when I had messed up.  All this could have been alleviated if I would have approached the problem by calling someone who knew the machine, could assess the problem and manage the repair. God is the one who knows the mechanics of how we work.  He knows when things have frozen over and we have become paralyzed with fear, discontent, disillusionment, insecurity or pain. And if we pray to him and wait upon him he will either melt away those things through time that have caused us pain or repair the thermostat within us that radiates the warmth of God's love and the comfort of his security.  Christ has already assessed it, but too many times we try to deal with things that we really don't know enough about to be able to fix. thus making things even worse. 

God has a stabilizing effect on out hearts when we call upon his name. He knows how to get past the front panel wall that masks the real mechanics of how/why we work and operate.  He knows what parts need to be replaced or repaired and he is the trusted one to count on and call on for understanding.  His schedule is never full and he states the truth without fringes and add ons.  His work is guaranteed, his word solid and fees are more than reasonable for the experience, know how and wisdom that he provides. We are called to serve him, but we can only do that if we have first allowed him to serve us the love, grace, wisdom, understanding and forgiveness that characterizes his professional expertise.   

Next time life gets a little tilted, and things freeze over, I must remember to not try to take things into my own hands. God is watching you and me and is on call. He knows when  emotions need to defrost a little and if we call him, he will answer on his timing,  with patience and understanding and direct our path. May he grant me the patience to wait on his arrival, and willingly submit to his suggestions.  For he is the best one to manage, repair and adjust the heart of the matter within me. 

Ecclesiastes 7:7-9 

The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
    and patience is better than pride.

Dear Lord, Help me to place your essentials in front of my unessential’s; in my heart, in my mind, in my emotions, and in my spirit,  and not sweat the small stuff.  For really it is all small stuff in comparison to you. Amen    

                               

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!