A table, some water and Hayley Mills.

You know the verse about rejoicing in the Lord always? (Phil 4.4)

I have those times where this verse is so great, and I can underline it and put happy faces by it and all is well. For example:

While in the US, I was thumbing through furniture catalogs (dangerous considering the luggage limit on the airlines).  Wow, look at this table:

Shanty-2-chic.com 

Boy, this could handle lots of kids, spills, homework, food, and all at the same time! I ripped out the ad, maybe I could find a worker in Chiang Mai who can replicate this someday.

We get home. We get life back in order. I forget about the ad.

A few days pass and my neighbor comes over,  "Sawadee-Ka (Thai greeting) Jill, I hired a carpenter while you were away to make a whole bunch of random furniture.  He made this table, and these benches, and I don't know where to put it.  Do you want it in your house?"

WOO! Rejoice! I'll even rejoice again!!!

But the times come where I wonder just why I underlined this verse and put happy faces next to it. For example: Juniper got sick in the night, the sick where a pile of sheets await upon waking. First thing next morning, after kicking the ants off, I grab the load and hold my breathe ready to toss them in the machine...wait...oh no....

The water is filthy! I can't wash anything in this! The nasty pile of sheets must wait, along with the other laundry, dishes, and people who are needing a scrub. Not a whole lot of rejoicing going on. I am thinking this verse, sometimes it's easy, but today: impossible!  

I sigh. I glance down in the same chapter in Philippians,

"Then you will experience God's peace, 

which exceeds anything we can understand.

 His peace will guard your heart and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." v.7

Wait, peace? Even during the nasty days?

I figure it is choosing to remember that my circumstances don't have to dictate my attitude. There is always more than meets the eye in the events of my life. Of your life. We don't get to see the whole picture, maybe never will.

Used with Permission 

My mind wanders to the Glad Game. You remember in the movie, Pollyanna, where she finds something good in everything?  Should I start playing? It would annoy my kids; it would annoy the world. 

Nah. I will spare everyone.

But I can keep trusting the One who has the big picture in mind!

"Rejoice in the Lord always and again, I say rejoice!" 

And while on the subject of trust and life, Stew wrote an article "Faith In Thailand" and it was published on the Summit Church website. It is a two minute read, find it here: Life Stories