Hissing Coveralls

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3

I like to think I’m a strong, smart, independent woman.  I’m not afraid to work hard or get dirty and I’m definitely not a girlie girl, but the other day, ALL that came into question when I found myself standing on the safe side of the garage screen door calling the men in my life for help!  One of my summer jobs was to clean the garage and sort through the long rack of coats and barn clothes.  It was time to throw out the size 5T snow pants with more holes than swiss cheese and the pink fuzzy winter coat from 1999!  It was a yuck job but as I pulled in the garage the day after I finished, I felt pretty accomplished and pleased with the way things looked.  As I parked in the garage with a load of groceries, I was admiring my work when I noticed a pair of coveralls moving as they hung on the hook.  That was not supposed to happen.

I bravely sat behind the wheel of my Traverse and watched those coveralls sway from side to side thinking, this is not ok!  Then I came to my senses and logically concluded it was probably one of the new kittens that had wandered up from the barn and playfully crawled up the pants leg.  I got out and walked toward the pants expecting to help the cute little kitty out and send it back to the barn, but as I got closer I could see eyes peering out and then the hissing started.  Definitely not a kitten and that pointy snout and loud hiss sent me promptly into the house.  My next brave move was to throw shoes at the pants until whatever it was fell out and scampered out the door.  After throwing a dozen shoes and boots and nearly breaking the service door window with my awful aim, I heard and saw barn boots wobbling around and was convinced there was a small army of invaders just a few feet from my screen door while my ice cream was melting in the car…something drastic had to be done!  That’s when I called Dave!  He was doing hay in a field much too far away to come to my rescue so I called Jason who was working from home that day.  What transpired upon his helpful arrival involved a snow shovel, a trap made out of a bow target, an 8 ft table and a broom.  I’ll leave out the parts about all my jumping and screaming at the sight of the critters teeth and hissing  and just let you know one very angry woodchuck made it’s way from the coveralls and boots in my garage to the corn field across the road.  I wish I could report a brave and triumphant ending on my part but I can’t.  I screamed, jumped, and freaked out like it was a fire breathing dragon and completely depended on my handsome son to save me from my despair!  He was so sweet and helpful and didn’t even make fun of me; he just came and helped and went on his way.  

That silly woodchuck stuck in those coveralls made me realize how we sometimes approach the troubles and trials in our days.  Truth be told, it was a pretty young woodchuck, not an angry mamma woodchuck.  The whole thing could have been so much worse but I went from baby woodchuck to dragon in 60 seconds!  I let something little grow and multiply in my mind while my emotions just went zooming into action leaving reason and reality in the dust.  I got a little tangled up in the hissing and teeth bearing and lost sight of the fact that the problem probably weighed less than 10 pounds and his fear was probably much greater than mine.  In hindsight I overreacted comically!  Every time I’ve pulled in the garage since that day I look at those coveralls and wonder how many times I’ve gone straight to the dragon without stopping to pray and ask for perspective first.  I think about all the times I’ve made something so big in my mind when in reality it turned to be so much smaller and manageable than I pictured it.

Our struggles can sometimes leave us feeling overwhelmed if we’re afraid to ask for help.  Things can morph in our minds if we try to handle everything ourselves and bear the burdens on our own shoulders.  God loves us too much for that.  I really believe that’s part of the reason  he put more than one person on the earth so we could help each other and support each other and point and lead each other to him.  It’s ok to ask for help, it’s ok to get another perspective and it’s ok to talk down the dragons! We weren’t meant to go solo through this life, we need him and we need each other because you just never know what problems might just crawl up the leg of your coveralls!

A Seed To Plant:  Make a list of the trials and troubles that have caused you to become worried and anxious lately and ask yourself these questions; Who have I talked to about it? Who can help? Have I prayed for the Fathers perspective?​

Blessings on your day!