Well, there might have been a superb photo inserted here of our laundry room and adjoining hallways, closet, and bedroom doorway completely saturated after our washer decided to overflow Saturday night.

The above picture is not in my actual house, but this is pretty much sums up the scene.

The boys had gotten back late that afternoon from camping, and I was busy washing away a few loads of stinky camp laundry. It was somewhere about the third load that I decided to start getting ready for bed when my walk to our bedroom was interrupted by a puddle…

This puddle turned out to be the leading edge of a river flowing from a waterfall… a waterfall pouring out of our washing machine. It had filled the inch-deeper laundry room floor and was now working its way over the hardwoods and into the carpets.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” I helpfully exclaimed as my tired brain tried to process what was happening and what needed to be done.

All I can say is PRAISE GOD for those simple on-off water valve switched within easy reach behind the washer. We halted the cause of the flood quickly and set about damage control.

We’re not out of the woods yet. We’re trying to deter mold, drying out carpet pads, praying the wood floors don’t swell any more, washing five loads of towels that helped sop up some of the flood, etc.

But all I can say is PRAISE GOD.

Seriously.

Praise God that this happened when hubs was home, not still off camping. [His quick thinking and heavy lifting were major.]

Praise God for neighbors with wet vacs.

Praise God for friends with fans.

Praise God for Google and YouTube. [It didn’t take too long for me to troubleshoot, diagnose the problem, dismantle the washer, fix the problem, and have the washer up and running again.]

Praise God that I got to fix a washer. It was a great reminder in a throw-away society that things can be “made new.”

Praise God for a friend with a dehumidifier.

Praise God for a total sense of peace that this will all get sorted out, and–at the end of the day–just isn’t that big of a deal.

Just praise God. Just praise Him. He’s good. He’s faithful. In the dry spells and in the floods.

He offers a peace that doesn’t make sense.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

So when the washer overflows, we don’t have to overflow with worry. When we are bumped, what spills out is praise.

I’m not thankful for the mess. But I am most definitely thankful in the mess.

Did you know God can do that for you too? He can work in you and through you in such a way that when life happens (and it will), you don’t have to stress out or fall apart.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).

James just lays it out there for us: WHEN you face trials. Not “if.”

In fact, with a deeper relationship with God, maybe stressing out or falling apart isn’t even something you have to overcome… It just doesn’t come? Or maybe, at least, not nearly so often.

So I am thankful.

…Is that crazy?

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