Sacrifice of praise - Take 2

by Mama Mabel

Last night I remembered what almost put me over the edge and led to me creating a list of intentional praise in the first place.  Somehow it didn't make the original list.  Here it is:

The bottom heat rod on my toaster oven going out - This is my only oven-like heat source.  Now I'm down to a hot plate that can't maintain high heat for an extended period of time and 3 crockpots in assorted sizes.  Despite the fact that it took up to an hour to bake 6 good sized biscuits and sometimes burnt the top of things while leaving other parts cool, this toaster oven was a mainstay of my food prep.  Now it only heats on the top and that rod is hotter in some spots than others.  I am choosing to be thankful for this because it is making me think more creatively in how I cook (important when I spend all day in left brain thinking) and because I think it is a precursor to God giving me a better cooking appliance, be it a better toaster oven or the relatively expensive wiring to get my super nice oven finally hooked up and running.  

Short story - at the house we lived in before this, the oven door wouldn't stay closed without a potholder wedged in it.  Needless to say, it was a fire hazard to turn it on.  So, I became very good at utilizing a toaster oven.  At the time, I was mad (a lot) that I had to use such a dinky appliance while the full sized one just sat there being useless.  However, we then moved into a house with an empty room for a kitchen.  On top of all the other transitions and the long hours of tax season shortly after the move, I don't think I could have survived mentally or emotionally if I'd had to adjust to toast oven cooking at that point in life.  The useless oven in my last house was God preparing me for this house.  While I sincerely hope that this isn't God's way of preparing me to live in even more frustrating circumstances, I do accept that even if it is, it's for my good because I love Him and am called according to His purpose.