Are We Being Tested or Is it Just Bad Luck?

Summer is just flying by. I am really enjoying having the kids home and getting a break from work. Things have really settled down from how they were going this past spring. Spring 2009 was a very busy and challenging time for our family. I was working almost every day, including the days Lloyd had off. Besides being busy with work and our kids, one challenge after another kept coming our way. As we experienced one setback after another, we had to wonder...Are we Being Tested or Is it Just Bad Luck? If we were being tested, I don't think we were passing because we were being tested over and over again. I think this is how challenges in life come, when it rains it pours. Here's just a few of the challenges we experienced in the last few months. To stay positive and optimistic, I'm going to mention the "Good News" about each of these challenges.

• Lloyd's car engine died. We thought about buying a new car because his is a '98 and in poor condition inside and out. It's so bad, both the door handles have fallen off. You have to roll down the window and carefully grip under the broken handle just to get out of the car. The ceiling lining is hanging down from the top of the car. It's never had hub caps and the exterior paint is peeling off. Nonetheless, we determined that we could not afford a new car. We still have two more years to pay off our van. We took a gamble and had the engine rebuilt. It cost almost $3000. We pray it lasts. After all, he drives that car about 200 miles a day to and from work. The Good News: When they rebuilt the engine they gave us a new door handle so we don't have to roll down the window to get out.
• Lloyd accidentally left his cell phone and wallet on top of the van and drove away. He was able to track down his cell phone to a teenager living in Concord - she said her dad works in Modesto. After a few conversations, we decided to have the phone shut off and get a new one. As for the wallet, we never found it. Lloyd had to order all new cards and get a new license. The Good News: My sister gave Lloyd one of her old cell phones and no one used our credit cards before we reported them lost.
• I had my third car accident in six months on April 30. I was rear ended while waiting to turn right into an intersection. The guy who hit me was really nice and immediately admitted he was at fault. I had two other accidents previous to this one. In January, a guy ran a stop sign and hit us on the side. In October, I was parked with all the kids in the car and we were hit from behind. I can't believe 3 accidents in less than six months and none of them were my fault. We had the hassle of having to have multiple rental cars. We should put AAA on speed dial! The Good News: No one was hurt in any of the accidents and my insurance rates didn't go up a cent (the accidents weren't my fault, but I still wondered).
• Our computer was having a lot of problems. Lloyd tried taking it to the shop where we had it custom built, but then we found out they are out of business now. He found someone else to work on it. This guy said our computer had 7 viruses and wasn't put together very well in the first place. Maybe that's why that place is out of business now. We had to pay a couple hundred to get our computer working again. The Good News: We actually got a great deal for all the work he did on it and it doesn't "hum" any more.
• Conner had to get three staples put in his head at the ER. I came home from work and Lloyd told me he had fallen on the tile floor and hit his head. Lloyd had bandaged it up, but I knew immediately when I saw it he would need stitches (or staples). He didn't love it, but he survived his ER visit. The Good News: Because we went to Oakdale, we were only in the ER for two hours. We paid $50 for the visit and our insurance company paid $1,665 - for three staples!
• We dropped my Canon Rebel camera and broke the lens. We had to buy a new one for a couple hundred dollars. The Good News: The new lens has a stabilizer and the lens cap doesn't fall off.
• The battery in our van died and we had to buy a new one. The Good News: The van starts when we want it to.
• I lost two of my two Pampered Chef ice cream scoops at a class party at Katelyn's school. The Good News: We've been eating less ice cream (I think).
• Our garage door opener is broken and we still have not fixed it. The Good News: We have lots of extra room in our garage for the kids to play in or for Lloyd to store all the food for the YM encampment.
• Our Bosch blender is broken and still is. I use it a lot to make protein shakes. The Good News: We have an old blender we using until the other one is fixed.

So there you go. Life is full of challenges, but you can always find something good about them. I am glad things are settling down a bit for now. Either our luck is changing or we are finally learning our lesson.