Lemons or Lemon Meringue Pie?

Changes in circumstances are inevitable. Our reactions reveal our hearts. The company  where my husband has worked for the past 29 years is in a labor dispute with his union. That means no work for him and 2200 other guys. I’m ticked for many reasons. His being “owned” by the company as he worked insane amounts of forced overtime and virtually every holiday with zero sick days are just a few reasons why I think management should be as loyal to these men and women as they have been to the company. But, it is out of our hands and in the hands of God. As is everything. Nothing is owed. Nothing is promised in this world.

So, I am leaning on few of God’s promises. They hold much more water than those of men.

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm23:1

 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Matthew 6:19-24

We will be fine. There are other jobs. I am looking forward to what the future holds. God is teaching us valuable lessons through this. I have reconnected with my even-more-frugal self, my kids are learning the value of a dollar to a greater degree, and I am able to see where we are wasteful in our spending and tweaking it as necessary. Yes, I will be picking up some hours cleaning and babysitting to pitch in, and leaning on our kids to help me around here a little more. But that’s ok, too.

All in all, not that big a deal. Certainly not as devastating as a bad medical diagnosis or the death of a loved one. This world is temporary. And so are the trials. I am resting on that truth today, and praying for peace every morning as we journey through.

 God bless our steelworkers and their families, and may a peaceful solution be the end result.