I (wanted to) jumped on the work computer early yesterday morning, knowing that I would be gone at least a couple hours to have breakfast with my favorite boss. I turned the computer on, signed in, and then this BitLocker Recovery screen came up - and would not go away. I turned off, back on. When it came up, it would last about 30 seconds, then shut down the computer. I finally got ahold of the Help Desk and - and this is interesting - he had me unplug everything that was attached to the laptop. My monitor, the plug, anything and everything. Then he had me turn it on, and plug everything back in. It worked perfectly as it should. Well, sorta. He said that the laptop just needed to reset. Interesting. It worked fine until later in the day - could it have been my imagination? - and I left the computer for about 30 minutes and when I came back, it had shut itself down. It shouldn't have done that. I'm curious on what will happen this morning, but I'm not going anywhere this morning so it doesn't matter. I may be taking it in to get another laptop. Luckily, I think I can go to one of 'our' hospitals nearby as they have extra computers. Maybe I can even luck out and get one of the newer ones.
I did have a great breakfast with my boss yesterday and we stayed for over an hour. I finally told her I had to get back to work. Afterall, for both of us, it was a 50-60 minute drive back home to get back to work. And I had over 33 messages when I returned! I didn't have to do anything with most of them as they were email/meetings for my two bosses, but there were some I had to attend to. Hubby reminded me on the way home that it was 'National Pizza Day' so I pulled a pizza out of the freezer last night for dinner.
I read in a devotional this morning about a man who lost three generations when a drunk driver hit his car head-on. He lost his mother, his wife, and his daughter. He walked away with very minor injury, as did his three other children. But what was interesting about this story was how he coped with his loss. How he responded to his loss. Losing one person is devastating, even when you know it is going to happen, even when they are old and you know it will happen 'at some time', losing a person you care for is crushing, it's devastating, it's a loss. But his response wasn't of anger or defeat. His response was thought-provoking. He wrote a book titled 'A Grace Disguised' in which he wrote:
"Sooner or later all people suffer loss, in little doses or big ones, suddenly or over time, privately or in public settings. Loss is as much a part of normal life as birth, for as surely as we are born into tis world we suffer loss before we leave it.
It is not, therefore, the experience of loss that becomes the defining moment of our lives, for that is as inevitable as death, which is the last loss awaiting us all. It is how we respond to loss that matters. That response will largely determine the quality, the direction, and the impact of our lives.
This book is not intended to help anyone get over or even through the experience of catastrophic loss, for I believe that "recovery" from such loss is an unrealistic and even harmful expectation, if by recovery we mean resuming the way we lived and felt prior to the loss. Instead, the book is intended to show how it is possible to live in and be enlarged by loss, even as we continue to experience it. Thatis why I will emphasize the power of response. Response involves the choices we make, the grace we receive, and ultimately the transformation we experience in the loss."
Did you catch that wisdom? The defining moment can be our response to the loss. Our life story may include loss, but ultimately our life story doesn't have to be a story about loss.
Remember the story about Job in the Bible? This man lost everything. He lost his ten children when the house/tent collapsed on them. He lost all his livestock, he lost his 'farm', he lost everything. He was covered in boils from the sole of his feet to the top of his head - to where he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape at them. His wife, on the other hand, asked him, "are you still going to hold on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he not only did not, he could not. He knew that God would be with him through it all. And He was. Job learned that through his great loss, where he lost everything, that God was still there. The famous line he said "The Lord gives, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord."
What have you lost that you know God was in it? I'm not going into detail of things in my life, but I have had loss as well. Fortunately for me, that loss, and the results of choices I made after that loss, made me run after Jesus. And I've never looked back. I tell you the truth, if in my miserable state, had I not run after Jesus and sought Him to lead my life, I would probably not be the person I am today. I wouldn't be where I am today. Jesus took me from the pit of my life, and set my feet on His solid ground, and I am so grateful and thankful He loved me so much. He forgave my sinful ways, known and unknown, and has helped me through this life.
And He can help you, if you will let Him. All you have to do is surrender to Him. He doesn't care where you are right now, what your life is like. All He wants is you. You don't have to be spic and span to be His. You just have to be willing to let Him lead you. Going through a tough time? It's much easier when you have Jesus. Things going well? Jesus is still the Answer. Ask Jesus to help you through today..... then watch and see what He will do. Afterall, He sees the big picture; we see what is only in front of us. Trust Him.
Blessings!
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