In the furnace

4:06 p.m. Today's project was to have the garage door opener repaired. The 20-year-old coil springs broke a few months ago. After searching the Internet for "Lift-a-Door" brand parts, and going to Loews to check out their garage door springs, we called two companies to give us an estimate. Since both estimates were around $200, we determined that the Jeep would just have to remain outside on the driveway! "After all," I told my dad, who was particularly concerned, "It's not made of paper!"And it came through the rain storms of November very well, thank you! There were just no finances to fix it.

We almost had hope that the opener had fixed itself when on Sunday, while connecting power to the outside Christmas lights, I pushed the remote in my car so the door would open just half an inch, like it had done in the past. Lo and behold, the door went up all the way as smoothly as it always had! Praising the Lord, Steve and I left it up for the duration of our task, then closed it down from the button in the garage--just fine! But there was no way I would trust the door enough to risk getting trapped in there!

My dad offered $200 towards the repair, so we had a company come over today to replace the springs for $200 exactly, our agreed-upon price. But guess what? The motor is so weak and close to burning out that we shouldn't use the opener anyway! Looks like we are only halfway there on the way to full repair, unless we have another $275 for a motor!

2010 has been that kind of year. A section of our fence blew down in a breeze, costing us $600; the limb of one of our trees in the front yard randomly fell down--thankfully Pavel's dad sawed it off for us; we had a strange water leak on the front sidewalk that the City tried to blame us for, but turned out it was their messed-up sprinklers further up the street; my radiator and a transmission cable in our youngest son Steven's identical Jeep broke down at the same time, finishing off our savings. We turned in our RV for repossession.

We have come within inches of losing our bank account, car insurance, health insurance and Steven having to leave Fresno Pacific University. My husband Steve's Alzheimer's has become much worse, and our oldest son has been deeply troubled with addiction to alcohol. My arthritis is becoming more frequently painful. Our days have been fraught with uncertainty at times, but we've been certain of one thing: our God is able to deliver us, as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego assured King Nebuchadnezzar before they were cast into the fiery furnace! (Daniel 3)

God did indeed deliver the three believers, even though the fire was heated seven times hotter because of their defiance of the king's order to bow down to his image! Hear verses 24-27, after the three were bound and cast into the furnace:

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spoke, and said to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king.

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spoke, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the most high God, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth out of the midst of the fire.

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

Nebuchadnezzar went on to make God the only God allowed to be worshiped throughout his empire!

God has not promised us a life free of troubles, from irritants to tragedies; but He sent His Son Jesus to walk with us in the hottest of fires! And as we are continually brought forward in victory from life's "furnace" events, giving the glory to our Lord, we are able to present a joyful face and an inspiring testimony without a trace of smoke or a single sign of a singe!