life beyond the well…

Author Archives: erin.almond


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The False Report

As I mentioned, Preacherman had been having some undiagnosed difficulties with his car.  Though we had our suspicions on the issue, and trying different potential solutions, we eventually needed to call in some reinforcements.

So, after a particularly challenging situation, we called in some reinforcements (in this case, AAA) and solicited their help on resolving the issue.  And after they provided their report to us, we began to take the appropriate action.  Imagine our surprise (and frustration) when we realized that we had been given a misdiagnosis and a false report.

What we thought was a major issue, really was just a minor hiccup that, with the appropriate knowledge, we could have resolved for ourselves; saving us a significant amount of time and money.  It’s so incredibly frustrating to be in that position, knowing that charting your course of action based on incorrect information has resulted in unnecessary expenditure of time and money; neither of which you can recover.

In this situation, there wasn’t much more that we could have done to avoid the false report.  But every situation isn’t like that.  Oftentimes, we are fed information from a variety of sources, and we have the opportunity to choose what we believe and on which information we will base our decisions.  As believers, our decisions should be rooted in our faith in God and our trust in His word.  We should be seeking to make decisions based off of HIS report and not that which we see around us.  We must guard our hearts and our minds and seek Him daily for the clarity we need to proceed in boldness with faith.

“Whose report will you believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord.” 

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!


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Divinely Delayed

I really hate being late.  Well, let me not say that…because there are definitely areas of my life where I struggle to be on time.  Just keeping it real.

So what I really mean is that I hate for my routine to be interrupted, thus causing me to be late(r).  I know that it happens, and generally there’s nothing that I can do about it, so I’m good about rolling with the punches…after I get over the initial frustration.

Today was one of those days where my routine was interrupted.  Preacherman was having car trouble, so I had to take him to work.  The challenge is that he has to be at work an hour before I do…so my entire morning routine was thrown off by having to take him to work and struggle through the early morning traffic.  Adding insult to injury was the fact that my car was in DIRE need of gas.  I mean, to the point that I was praying that we would make it to his job, and I was REALLY praying that I would make it back home without having to call AAA because I was stranded on the side of some Jacksonville road.

After making it back home (thanks God!), getting dressed, and making it out of the house in a decent time to head to work (after stopping at the gas station), I received a phone call from a friend who I haven’t talked to in a while.  She’s struggling.  Going through some major stuff.  And while I’ve been praying for her, I haven’t had a chance to connect with her on the phone in a while.  So, it was good to talk to her FOR REAL and be able to encourage her in her situation.

On the way to work, I processed all that happened.  Had I not been delayed by Preacherman’s car issues, I would have been on my regular schedule and would have missed the opportunity to connect with a friend who so desperately needed to be encouraged and reminded of God’s love for her in the midst of her challenges.  And I would have missed God’s reminder to slow down and enjoy His delays because He’s always at work.

It’s so easy to be frustrated when our routine is interrupted.  I encourage you, in the midst of those interruptions to seek God.  What is it that He is trying to tell you?  How, in those moments, does He desire to use you?  I’m grateful for God’s nudging and gentle reminders of how He is always at work.  I’m grateful for being used to encourage someone else in their situation. And though I was initially frustrated, I can honestly say that I’m grateful for this morning’s divine delay.

Until next time…

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!