Out of Nothing, And No Way, A Way is Made

Michael Beckwith says this quite a bit when he preaches. It's really stuck with me, but only in desperate times. 

Today wasn't so desperate, but I got to feel the depth of this statement - Out of nothing, and no way, a way will be made.

So I noticed this crack in my windshield yesterday in the midst of driving all over town in holiday shopping traffic - I think to myself, That sucks, and promptly forget all about it.

And today. Today I was given a precious gift of $200. I was so happy! I thought of the boots I need, the haircut I could get, how I could surprise my husband with something, Chinese food for NYE, etc... After telling myself I wasn't going to use this gift to pay bills, I was going to use it as a gift for myself - these are the things that came to mind. We are truly a paycheck to paycheck family, and $200 extra dollars is a real blessing.

Then I get in my car to run an errand, and there it is, like a cold, hard slap in the face - the windshield crack. Except it had grown. No longer forgettable, this thing was now over a foot long. I sighed. I knew right then what I needed to do, and I knew right then how much it would cost. I needed to call my insurance company and have the windshield replaced, and my deductible is exactly $200.

Did I have my moment of thinking WTF?? Oh yea I did. Then I had the moment of forcing myself to get over it - like not naturally getting over it, but nudging myself, thinking "Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude Erin!! Be grateful you had the money!" When really inside I'm whining "But it's not fair!!"

The difference is, this all lasted minutes - not hours or even days like something of this nature used to.

A friend of mine recalled to me in the midst of this that when she used to be tight on money, and had a struggle, something always worked out so she could afford it. This my friends, is Right Thinking. What we are accustomed to is Backwards Thinking - "Damnit, I had money and now I have to use it for a repair! This sucks, poor me!" But that's backwards, it's literally flipped the wrong way, and in so doing completely changes the tone, feeling and attitude. 

Just flip the two events in the opposite order - "I needed a repair, and then I got the money to fix it!" This is so simple it's almost stupid. But do you see how the entire tone changes? It changes so that, in fact, it leaves no room for poor me or bitter feelings, yet brings about an atmosphere for gratitude. 

There are just two sides to every coin, and we are the ones who can flip it. I flipped my situation into one that felt grateful, and this brings about joy, which in turn leads to more things to be thankful for.

Look at that. I was going to need help with that windshield. And out of nothing, and no way, a way was made.

Amen.