Awesome--a clean car parked inside!!

9:17 p.m. Today's project was to have our garage door opener's motor replaced. We have been parking the Jeep outside for more than a year, in every kind of weather--blazing sun, wind, flying dust and loose leaf storms, rain for days.

My Jeep looked terrible for the most part, and for the 80% of the year when the sun us shining, was VERY hot to get into from 9:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. Praise the Lord that its air conditioner held up this year.

That isn't much of a complaint, but burdens are relative, aren't they? A lady in my discussion group shared a serious neighborhood trial with me on the phone today, and then told me,"My burden is made out of cardboard compared to what you are carrying!" (Steve's Alzheimer's) But I told her, "It's the Lord who is carrying my burden!"

Not only does the Lord carry my burdens, He carries me as one of His flock. Isaiah 40:11, the basis of an "oratorio" (solo) in Handel's Messiah, has had a place in my heart since high school, a dedade before I knew Jesus as my Savior.

He will gather the lambs with His

arm,

And carry them in His bosom,

And gently lead those who are

with young.

Does the Lord just pull us along like we have to tug our toddlers in parking lots? Do we not have responsibility and a role to play in our own lives? Of course we do. Steve and I spent the better part of a day earlier this week clearing out enough space to allow space for a repairman to work on the old motor of our garage door opener. And today, after the door was operational, I tried to park the Jeep, but needed a few more feet on the left. Back to the rearranging and box-shifting! Everything we do around here takes twice as long, and on my part lately, with half of the patience I should have. That's when the Lord steps in by His Holy Spirit, calms me down, and reminds me that some of the details I insist on, (like setting a box of old paperbacks two inches from where they were placed) are of no importance whatsoever. And then I feel grateful for all of the help Steve is still able to give with our--or my-- many household, garden and landscaping projects.

Things go much better when I let the Lord carry out His plans, set them in priority order, and sweeten the situation with peace and cooperation from all involved. Today went wonderfully after all. To both of our delight, the newly washed Jeep, courtesy of my dear husband, now sits inside the garage!

It's called "letting go and letting God" or simply, TRUST!