So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. – 2 Corinthians 9:7
As someone who has worked with computers for decades, I’m naturally also tech support for friends and family. And the ultimate test of patience is tech support for your parents.
It was a weeknight, and my father’s internet went out. I knew I couldn’t even leave my house, on the other side of town, till 11 p.m. at the soonest. I was already worn from a long day, work-wise and personally.
So before I left the house, I made my attitude adjustments and stopped looking inward at my being tired, which could affect my mood. The bottom line at that point was: Could I safely make the drive, knowing I wouldn’t be home till almost 2 a.m., and then get up four hours later to drive into work again? I knew the answer was yes.
I asked God in prayer to carry me safely to and from my destination. I also asked Him to help me focus on Him, not myself, and be thankful for learning what I know, and being thought of enough to be asked for help.
I sang along with songs of praise the whole way there and back, and the long drive just flew by. It was also a blessing that there wasn’t much traffic at that time of night, either.
The next test of patience was getting there to determine, after a few minutes of troubleshooting, that nothing could be done, because the internet service to the house was down due to bad weather. So after I wrote my father a note explaining what was wrong (he was there but is terribly hard of hearing!), I headed out.
My car navigation didn’t give much advance notice of turns to take up ahead, so I ended up taking a longer way back home. But once I got home, that bed was very, very soft. I thanked the Lord for carrying me and watching over me through the long journey, and hoped I made Him known in that little errand.
We have so much to be thankful for, that we are truly rich, so why not give with a smile?
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