Choosing Gratefulness

This morning was rough. I had a restless night of sleep, was running late to a women's Bible study this morning, and then dropped my iPhone on the way out the door. I immediately knew this was a costly mistake. I picked it up and noticed the glass screen had shattered and shards of glass got in my finger as I swiped it to unlock it.

This was not my actual phone.
If you can believe it, mine was much worse.
And white.
With a cute case that was supposed to protect it.

I knew in that moment I had choice to make. I could literally sense a check in my spirit as I held my shattered phone. I could choose gratefulness or frustration.  

Frustration would have been the easy choice (and admittedly my usual go-to). In my line of work, my phone is an important life line and it's crucial not only to have a working phone, but to have access to my email and the internet. But the cost and time to replacing the screen?! Ugh! That was not in the plans for today.  

All of those thoughts ran though my head in a matter of milliseconds. But the damage was done. I knew I needed to replace it and change gears for the morning. And I chose gratefulness.

I chose to be grateful for an understanding and helpful husband.  I maneuvered around the broken screen and called him for help. His immediate response was empathy and he took ten minutes out of his work day to figure out the most cost effective way for us to fix the phone.

I chose to be grateful for my location.  I was initially frustrated that I didn't have my laptop with me to find where I needed to go. It turns out I was a tenth of a mile away from a store that replaces broken screens.

I chose to be grateful for the extra time.  What was I to do without my phone to make calls, without my laptop to work, and without even a watch to keep track of the time while I waited for the repair? I headed to Panera for an hour for an egg souffle, a dark roast coffee, and catch up on some reading without distractions.  

I chose to be grateful for the provision.  Instead of being frustrated and irate that it cost so much to replace the screen, I was thankful we had the cash in our bank account.  We've been through seasons when it wouldn't have been there. And within an hour and a half I had my phone back, good as new.

Maybe it was because I just came from Bible study that I quickly chose gratefulness rather than cussing out my "protective" case. Maybe I was trying to hold it together in front of the other ladies. Or maybe God is doing his work in my heart so that I see an eternal perspective rather than what's right in front of me.

God used this little event in a driveway to continue to teach my heart about what's really important; he cares way more about my heart response than my iPhone.  

Now if you'll excuse me I have to head to Amazon to shop for an Otterbox (the kind I always made fun of other people for having...)