What a week!

This has been the kind of week where you think, "what could happen next?" By last night, I'd decided that nothing short of a natural disaster could top the events that have gone on in our lives this week. Then my knee went out as I was getting ready to brush my teeth, and I ended up on the bathroom floor in a heap. Mel heard the crash and came to rescue me. It was a toss-up between laughter and tears, but we decided on laughter (with a side order of loud yelling for the pain). Between the sinus infection, the visit to the freaky doctor, the inability to get my prescription even yet, the missed check in the checkbook that caused mountains of fees, late night work on the ladies conference, the car not starting, Mel getting sick, the house running out of toilet paper, Barb and the keys locked in her car, and now a swelled up knee, I felt like giving up. I wanted to put my head under the towel over the vaporizer and stay there for at least a week but resting has not been an option. Jeremy tried to help me out earlier in the week by reminding me that God is in control. But my mom really drove that home when she reminded me that God is in control, but He loves me and has a purpose for things like this. It wasn't until today when I watched Buddy with his ball that I really got a clue. Nothing embodies the spirit of worship and devotion and single-minded focus like watching that dog with his ball. Everything else is secondary. Everything else is negotiable. The ball is supreme. (If you know Buddy, you understand how profound this really is.) Here I am, with my focus on everything all around me. Sometimes it is a good thing like work or church or home or my class, sometimes it is a not good thing like a selfish entertainment or a mindless pursuit, but so often my thoughts and heart are scattered, with Christ Jesus being only one of many things in my life. This week, my focus was narrowed. My health, my car, my money, and my time were forced into situations way beyond my control. I was forced to look up: to stop- to sit- to pray, no, to beg- to pay attention. And I was struck by the thought: "Isn't this dependency where I am supposed to live all of the time?"