It’s been snowing like crazy for the past month.  No, we are not having some weird sort of weather phenomenon in North Carolina.  There’s been a figurative snowball rolling down the hill of my life and it’s been gaining speed every day!

Have you ever been there?

Where something stressful/troublesome/problematic happens in your life and then something else happens and then something else happens… and you start to wonder if you’re cursed?  Sometimes it seems that one thing almost leads to the next and you just can’t catch a break.

Well that’s been my life in the recent weeks.  I’ve been on the exciting and interesting journey of downsizing my life and having a tiny house built for the past five months, which is a good thing.  But… once it was actually delivered, it’s been nothing but a series of problems.  With the plumbing, the electricity, getting internet and all kinds of little things in between.  I guess it shouldn’t be much of a surprise since home building can be a bit of a nightmare in the first place.  But every time I thought things were looking on the up and up, something else would go wrong.

So I decided to give myself a little break from the stress and go to the beach with my family for 3 days.  I packed up the car, grabbed the pups and headed off on a five hour drive to Virginia Beach.  The first day, I wasn’t able to get a hold of my sister ALL day (because of bad cell phone reception at the beach), so I didn’t even meet up with them until 7:00 that night.  Weird.  Then we had a great 2nd day.  Then I got up the next day and hadn’t even made it to the restroom yet, when I got bit by the dog that lives at the B&B I was staying at.  Extremely weird.  Especially since I am a huge dog lover and have never met a dog that didn’t get along with me in my whole life!

So I spent half of that day in the urgent care and then couldn’t swim or go in the ocean anymore because I couldn’t get the wound wet.  And then I went home the next day.  Not exactly the relaxing vacation I had envisioned.

Seriously, at this point, you have to wonder… what in the world is going on?

Anytime that I’ve had a big ol’ snowball like this brewing in my life, it was because I was on the verge of doing something great and my faith/patience was being tested.  In fact, I do have a few great things in the works right now and I do know that God’s hand is in all of it.  So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Satan would want to throw a few monkey wrenches into the mix.

We all will experience moments of crisis where we feel like we are being hit on all sides.  And the key in those moments is to breathe.  Just like how you need to turn into a skid when driving on ice… don’t fight against the challenges.  Lean into them.  Breathe.  Pray.  And ride them out.  They won’t last forever.  Eventually the sun will come out again and the snow will melt.

Just remember that you are strong enough to withstand anything life throws at you, when you have God on your side.

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”  -James 1:12

 ^“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  -Philippians 4:13