I am being tested

For a birthday present, my grandma gave me "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I have really and truly wanted to do this 40-day in-depth study about God's purpose for my life for a long time now. My grandma had no knowledge of this, it's just something I talked with Kevin about. But, nonetheless, my grandma chose this book for me to read because she has really enjoyed Rick Warren's writing and thought I might too.

So, after some consideration on Kevin's part, we started this 40-day journey together as a couple. We're about 8 days in, and we're already in awe, and ready for what God has to teach us. After each chapter, there's a section for points to ponder, scripture and a question to answer. Right now, we are really at the beginning, an introduction to what lies ahead if you will. But, even so, one of the points to consider has really hit home with me - "Life is a test." Hmm.. As I read on a dear friend's blog, if you pray to God for Him to give you patience, you won't simply be rewarded with patience, but yet given times to practice patience. It makes sense, doesn't it? We can't immediately get everything we ask for without a struggle. If we did, then what would we learn? Nothing.

For the past couple days, I keep repeating to myself that "Life is a test." How I handle things makes a big difference. So, with this in mind, I feel that God decided it was time for Him to test me.

Monday, I was working on catching up with some laundry since I hadn't done much the week before. I had a completely full load, but I grabbed Brooklyn's clothes hamper and added almost all her dirty clothes to the load. It was beyond full. I'm such a stickler for how my laundry is done, which is why I am the only one that does our laundry. I have items that dry all the way, some that fluff for a little while and then are hung up and some that aren't dried at all. So, when the washer completely the rinse and spin cycle, I opened up the lid and started filling my dryer with all the wet clothes. Suffice it to say, my dryer was packed. As I started the fluffing process, by drying and then stopping the dryer to remove a few things and then start the dryer again, my dryer just stopped. I thought something was stuck in the door. Nope. Hmm.. maybe I didn't have the dial on the correct thing. Nope. Maybe if I unplugged and replugged. Nope. Nothing seemed to work. At the same time, Kevin was still at work, Brooklyn was wanting me to play with her by covering her up with a new blanket over and over again, and Shiloh, our beagle, was howling because he wanted upstairs and the gate was up. I had really wanted to get this load completely finished before Kevin came home, but now I realized that wasn't going to happen.

But, then, something in my attitude changed. I was starting to get a little frustrated, but then I looked upward and said, "you're testing me, aren't you?" I spent the next almost half hour, hanging all the wet clothes up on hangers and on a clothes line, covering Brooklyn with her blanket over and over, letting the dog upstairs to roam around and greeting Kevin when he came home - all with a smile on my face. When I told Kevin about the possible broken dryer, and after all the wet clothes were tended to, I tried to turn the dyer on again, and viola...it worked. Was this indeed a test from God? I truly believe it was.

This is just one small example of how God is currently working in my life, and I am so excited to see what more is in store for me as I work my way through "The Purpose Driven Life."