The God of all Comfort

Today started out well.  Good night's sleep.  Not too sore from yesterday's 1/2 marathon. Kids off to school with few delays.  House in decent order. Time for a shower.  And a visit with a sweet friend and her girls.
I even took a short nap with Little Man.

Then the kids got in the car at school and started bickering.
Little Man demonstrated that his nap was WAY too short.
At home everyone was starving and cranky.
No one liked anyone else.
I wished for the Coach to come home and rescue me.

Trying to make things better, I headed out to pick up pizza for dinner.
Went by for a short visit with my parents.
Pulled out onto the road outside their neighborhood.
Stopped at the red light.

and SMACK.

We were hit from behind.
Hard.
Scaring us to death.
Slamming us into the car in front of us.
Messing up the back of our Odyssey pretty badly.
Destroying the other car completely.

My dad came quickly.
Telling me what to do next when I couldn't think straight.
Calling the police for us.
Reminding me to exchange information with the driver.

We cleared the cars off the road.
Waited for the police.
Who then said they really didn't need to come and we could both go on.

The pizza was purchased.
The dinner eaten in chaos.

And our sweet sitter came to say good-bye before she moves away.

When she left, I thought "I can't do this."

The Coach is gone.
The car is wrecked.
The house is mess.
The kids are up too late.
I'm exhausted.
My BSF lesson isn't done.
And I already miss my "Chelle".

I'm SO DONE with this day, Lord.

But once the children were tucked in safe and sound, I turned to His Word. 

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

And then. . .

"We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us."
(2 Cor. 1:3-7, 8b-10)


So. . .
The house is still a mess.
The dishes are still in the sink.
The laundry isn't folded.
My BSF lesson isn't finished.
I'm still tired.
The Coach is still gone.
The car is still wrecked.
And our sweet babysitter won't be right down the street, anymore.

But if you need some comfort, tonight?  I'm your girl.

He has given me life everlasting. . . and He will give me the strength for this life, as well.

God is the blessed controller of all things.

And I trust Him.