Maytag Miracle

I always wondered what it would feel like to be the person who opened the door for Publisher Clearing House.

“What?!  I won!?!  This is...wonderful!!”  I would grab that giant, paper check and give a huge kiss to the person handing it to me (granted, this was my pre-married fantasy, I better run that one past my hubby now!).  

I always wondered...until today.

This morning, when I opened my front door, I was greeted with an announcement that transformed me into one of those crazy, jumping, ecstatic people from Publisher's Clearing House!

I had been playing on the front porch with my crew and was confused when I noticed a delivery truck backing into our driveway.  My confusion level upgraded from mild to wild though when a delivery man hopped out and hollered, "I have a brand-new washer and dryer for you!"

I laughed, "This is a joke, right?!"  Not that I thought it was hilarious that our current washer and dryer belonged at a museum next to dinosaurs of similar prehistoric age but having spied the contents (or lack thereof....) in my husband’s wallet lately, I was pretty sure he wasn’t the one replacing our old dinosaurs with BRAND-spankin’-new models!

And who else had I complained to about our oldie-goldies except my man?  Granted, the only reason I had told him the washer and dryer were dying a miserable death was because he had smelled the smoke coming from the basement and thought it was dinner (again).  I assured him the dryer was working just fine (minus the plume of smoke) so long as I planned ahead a year or two for any special clothes I needed since it was taking an average of six to seven hours to dry one load.

I couldn’t stop grinning as I showed the delivery man to our basement laundry area.  I could tell from the look he gave me he thought I was certifiably nuts.  It was either because he didn’t know why I kept laughing...or because of my answer when he asked how many kids I had.  Come to think of it, it was probably more likely option B.

But all that aside, I hadn’t been too worried...

Okay, who am I kidding!?  I had been worried about how our budget was going to stretch without snapping to accommodate for a fancy, new-fangled washer and dryer (translation for fancy: working!!).

In fact, my battle with worry was the very reason that my attention was snagged last night when I was listening to a pod-cast and the speaker threw out this challenge,

“What if you didn’t worry anymore (citing Luke 12:22-26)?  What would life look like for you if you stopped worrying...if you trusted God?”

What if?  I thought.  I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of all the things I had been worrying about: “Will our house sell?  Will I ever get to all my projects?  Am I prioritizing my time the way God wants me to?”, and last but not least, “What to do about our smokin’ hot dryer?!”  

...and THIS is another story!

I decided right then and there (there being while standing on a pile of toys I was attempting to organize, but that’s another story...) to get more active about trusting and more lazy about worrying!  What good did all that worrying do anyway?

God can and will take care of us.

Do I really believe that?  

I must.

After my conversation with God the night before, when that delivery truck backed into our driveway with a new washer and dryer, I half expected the Man himself to hop out of the back and unload the set!  If he had, I imagine he might have whistled a little tune and whispered as he walked past me (with my mouth hanging open, of course!), “Told...you...so...Don’t worry...Trust Me.”

So easy to do...and yet so very hard!

It was 100% confirmed that God had indeed used an anonymous person to bless us after my husband got home and I showed him the new bling in our basement.

I never knew a brand-new washer and dryer could make a grown man cry.

“You deserve it, baby...” He smiled, “And God is faithful!”

Yes, He is.

THAT reminder is worth more to me than a ginormous Publisher’s Clearing House check any day of the week.  And thanks to a VERY generous person that God has used, I also have a visual reminder of God’s provision that I can see everyday.  Actually, three times a day...

Speaking of, I gotta go.  I’ve got laundry to do, baby!!

Thank you to whoever blessed our (dirty) socks off!!!