The Story of the Fireplace Insert

 Over 9 years ago we moved to our  house in Virginia. The family room had a fireplace with a wood burning insert complete with a fan. After my sensitivity to wood smoke increased, we only used it a few times. Since the insert took up so much space, Steve decided to get rid of it. The easiest thing to do was to send out an e-mail on freecycle. The hard thing was whoever wanted it had to take it out themselves. We needed to be sure that what the person wanted  was what we had to offer. We also had to be sure they had the manpower to take out the heavy cast iron insert. I e-mailed back the woman who wanted it, sending her more information and hoping she actually read it. Over the years I have seen time after time when things like this become more and more complicated. I expected that to happen this time. Two men showed up at the appointed hour. They had the right equipment and in a reasonable amount of time they removed the insert and loaded it on their truck.

 In the midst of this happening we received word of a large unexpected financial responsibility. There would be no opportunity to resolve this situation until later the next day. I could feel my stomach churning over this unfair problem that was not of our making. Neither Steve nor I took time away from what we were doing to pray when we received the information.

When the men pulled out of our driveway with the insert, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that something potentially so complicated was dealt with in a simple straight forward manner.  Although the weather had been unseasonably warm, we did not know how long that would last and so we began the next morning our hunt for the right glass fireplace screen. Little did I know that our search would take us to parts of Fredericksburg I was only slightly familiar with. Finally at the fifth place we visited we found a whole wall with fireplace doors like we wanted. Small problem - the cheapest one was $700. We had only one more place to look before we would again check out the vast domain of the internet.

When we entered the last store we soon found the section that contained their selection of glass fireplace doors. I picked the one based on looks and Steve agreed knowing that hopefully it was the right measurements. As he brought the box into the house, I still expected something to go wrong. It wouldn't fit the hole right or Steve couldn't secure it well, or the installation would require other tools. No, none of those things took place. Just as it happened the day before in a reasonable amount of time, the task was finished. The fireplace looks good. One more thing - the doors were significantly cheaper than the $700 ones we had seen as we toured the city that morning.

Again I was struck by the goodness of God in helping us to find the doors locally and to get them in the fireplace the same day. Neither one of these things were major problems but my gratitude for  God's kindness in how it was all resolved helped to calm my churning stomach about the unexpected and undeserved debt.  Our God blesses us with his grace in a multitude of  ways,expected and unexpected. It wasn't until later that Steve had a chance to call about the debt. It looks like there is a much simpler solution than what we originally thought.

How much do we miss in life when we don't open our eyes to how God is working? We may always be looking for the bad outcome and not looking for God's blessing. We may be so ready to complain that we are not ready to give thanks. Thank God that he gives us grace whether we see it or not. When we do see what God is doing and give Him the glory for even those things that seem minor, then our gratitude spills over into all areas of our lives as we actively recognize that our heavenly father is the generous giver of all good gifts.