The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The last two weeks have been sort of a blur. So much has been going on!!
I started my job at Lifeway, and I love it! Everyone is so nice, and they have all gone above and beyond to welcome me. The task ahead of me is huge and I'm ready for the challenge. It's been fun telling others that I'm the new multiethnic editor- everyone asks if I know all 50 languages. I usually reply that I've got 47 down pat and am working on the last three! One woman even confessed that she didn't expect me to be "so white"! This multiethnic initiative is a top priority for Lifeway right now and I am very excited to get to be a part of it.
Another bright spot in the past couple of weeks was a weekend in Ft. Worth. Rob and I flew out to visit family and meet our new nephew over Memorial Day weekend. Of course, I'm a biased aunt, but David is absolutely the cutest kid in Texas! I hate that we waited so long to see him, although I'm glad now that we did... he was able to smile and interact with us a lot, which was really fun! Now, I don't want a reputation as a meanie, but isn't this the cutest picture?!? Crying or not- I love this kid!
In spite of my wonderful new job and time with sweet David, this week was a hard one. We got back on Monday night without our luggage. Besides our clothes, my car keys, check book, work ID badge, Rob's work file, and several other important things were in the lost suitcase. American Airlines had put the wrong tag on it at DFW, and we had a claim ticket for a woman headed to Washington DC; they had no idea where our stuff was. We tried not to be upset about it and headed home, where we found that our refrigerator had gone out over the weekend! (The first clue was the can of biscuits exploded in the fridge!) Not exactly what you want to come home to after a weekend out of town.
And I can't show you a picture of the ugly, so I'll just tell you about the huge, purple & black stripe across my back. I slipped on a staircase at work Tuesday morning and hit the lower part of my spine on a step before sliding the rest of the way down. No, I couldn't fall on my tailbone where I've got plenty of cushion- that would have been too easy! I was able to get up and walk immediately, but I was in a lot of pain and had to go straight to the doctor. They did x-rays to confirm that nothing was fractured, and thankfully everything looked good. It's still rather painful, but fortunately I can tell that it's improving every day. Please pray for a complete recovery! On top of the physical pain, my pride was hurt almost as bad with embarrassment for having a workman's comp claim before I even had my first paycheck.
I came home from work Tuesday and cried. Between the lost luggage, the expensive fridge repairs, and my hurt back, I felt very defeated. I wondered why God was allowing these attacks from all angles. He gently reminded me that He is good and is always in control, and I was stressing over relatively small "stuff." I got a big dose of perspective later that night and felt silly that I had cried over these trials. Because that's all they really were. Disciples aren't exempt from the hard road. As followers of Christ, our journeys are peppered with speed bumps and detours. We just have to learn to trust God to get us around- or through- the obstacles and allow Him to strengthen our faith through those times.