A Loose Screw
It was one of those days,
weeks…okay, months.
My hubby’s travel schedule was
insanely high and my sons’ healths were extremely low. Add in “life”, and this Momma was
beginning to feel like I had more than a few loose screws.
For four straight weeks,
somebody had something. We almost
made it through the week without one of our kids being sick; the key word being
almost. On Thursday, the school
representative called to say that our oldest had a fever. As I raced to collect my little bear
cub, I noticed that the “check tire pressure“ light illuminated from my dash
board…and spirit.
My tires weren’t the only thing
that felt a little deflated.
I pumped my 102 degree honey
with some ibuprofen and proceeded to the gas station. As I checked the air pressures of my tires, I found it, my
loose screw, wedged into my minivan tire.
It’s pathetic to admit that I had an LOL moment there, outside in
public, about the whole loose screw thought.
Hello crazy lady filling her
tire, laughing alone, like a mad scientist.
As I filled three of my four
deflated tires, I realized that I was in the perfect position, knelt,
moderately crazy and desperate.
Every day I’m desperate for God, but it takes the loose screw days, to
confirm it. Right then and there
was as good a time as any to talk with God. I used the remainder of the time, to fill er’ up, both my
tires and my spirit.
I needed to fill up on God so I
could get through that month, which punctured and slowly deflated the air out
of the tire of my life. So with
two sons inside the minivan and one loose screw Momma on the outside, I talked
to God. God heard my cry for help
(Psalm 34:15), cared (1 Peter 5:7), and it filled me with the fullness of God, not
insanity (Ephesians 3:19).
Later that night, our other
son, had a bedtime meltdown of epic proportions. He went into a tearful litany of how so many things were, “Not
fair!” He was just overtired and
oh, how I could relate. The only
difference was that I was the responsible adult even thought I really, really
didn’t want to be. What my son
needed was the same thing I needed just hours ago, to cry out, be cared for and
filled up. Oh yeah, and his back
scratched too.
So I turned off the lights, hopped
into his bed and gave my son the same gift God gave me earlier, a present and engaged
audience for the next episode of, “As The World Is Not Fair”.
“He makes us lie down in green
pastures”, (err, I mean in a stuffed animal-filled bed) to be refreshed and
comforted (Psalm 23).
Somewhere between finding that
I indeed had a screw loose, and that my son had strep again, I also realized that
running on empty is one of the most dangerous places for a mother to be. It’s more dangerous than a half off
shoe sale, with cash and a coupon in hand…yeah, that dangerous.
If you’re feeling like me, that
maybe you just might have a screw loose too, I want to encourage you to check
your pressure level, don’t keep runnin’ on empty. Fill er’ up to enjoy, not just endure, whatever is causing
the temporary deflation. God
cares, God comforts and God will fill er’ up…whether you have a screw loose or
not!
6 Comments:
I still have a few loose screws and still very proud to be part of this 24/7 MOMS community! :-)
Thank you for the beautiful reminder about where our help comes from. You are cracking me up with the shoe sale and screw loose! Love it! You are a literary genius :-)
Steph,
I have felt this way for a while. I need a good filler 'up. Thanks for the insight.
Kathy D.
I totally relate to this. And I love that you had a true screw in your tire. I mean, really, that little screw taking the air out of your tires - how powerful was that?! Thank you for this. I think instead of continuing to run on empty, I'm going to head up to bed, and try to start my Monday with a new perspective.
God does fill er up when you need it and he tightens 'loose screws' also!!! Thanks for the inspiring words.
Well said!!!
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