The Front Page

Sunday morning I was home with sick kids... again. My Augs had a suspicious possibility of having pinkeye. I'm still not totally convinced thats what it was - but, for whatever reason - that was my life that morning and I was home. So, unlike my normal Sunday morning routine {wake up early, rush to get ready, ready the children, shove something half way nutritional at them for breakfast, bottle feeding, diapering again, brushing teeth, loading into van...} I curled up on the couch in my sweat pants and cozy socks and read the Sunday paper. Weird. I felt so out of place, but, will not lie and say I wasn't loving it. It was quiet and calm - Augs was napping and Ava playing quietly with Polly Pocket. Bliss, for just a moment...

That is, until I read the front page. This was the top headline...

"8 Things That Will Cost More This Year"

-Health Insurance up 8-12%

-Electricity up 4%

-Travel up 7%

-FOOD up 3% {mainly MILK, pork and beef}

-College Tuition up 3.75%

-Home Insurance up 10%

-Clothing up 10%

-Gasoline up 4 to 5 cents

And of course it was designed with nice pictures and cool fonts to make it look presentable. The irony. And for 2 seconds I had this vision of telling Ava here in a few years, "sorry Honey, we can't send you to college or...buy you a steak...or ever help you with gas money". Dramatic, right?

Anyway, you'd think I'd put the paper down and find something else more encouraging right? Nope. Read the whole thing - even ads. When I was done I felt down and just down right discouraged. There really is nothing good going on. Evil seems to prevail. Sin is everywhere... even in the ads. Or, especially in the ads. I'm thinking of cancelling my subscription. I don't love the idea of having that whole pile of depressiveness only to get 2 things of coupons. Ha!

And the moral of all of this - I dunno. Just trying to figure out how to focus on TRUTH. Truth that God is in control and sovereign, despite gas prices and tuition raises. Truth that in all honesty we might not even be here on this earth and to worry is frivoulous. Ultimately... it's just stuff. Stuff we can survive with or without, I know. Thankful for the one piece of assurance today that I'm held in the palm of the almighty God. Creator of all. Sustainer of all. Lover of me. And, the God with a sense of humor...because right above the headline was a sticker for a fitness place that read, "No Ifs, Ands or Jiggly Butts". Well then. Amen.