Inconvenient

Initially this week felt as long as a football field and I was wondering how I'd maintain my sanity. However, thanks to le furnace trouble (that's french for "the furnace that gave me what for"), I'm already at Wednesday and hoping, anticipating and begging God for some delivery action at week's end. 

I have had some more ponderings lately. They're not so much the meek Mary ponderings as I had hoped, but still...

Because of our furnace trouble the past week, Morgan and I have often had to hightail it out of our abode to make room for contractors. Yesterday we pulled a 9 to 5 so that the contractors could put in our new furnace. I was told it would take 6-8 hours. It took 12, but that's okay because this morning we had heat. Wonderful, wonderful heat.

In an effort to stay warm yesterday, I spent the morning doing errands and crashing in random coffee places while Morgan went to preschool. Then we squatted at a friend's house for the remainder of the afternoon until dinnertime. 

If there's anything I learned yesterday, it's this: Very pregnant women should not be nomadic. They should spend their last days of swollen-footed bliss on a couch watching reruns and milking the heck out of their girthly situation. They should not be waddling anywhere. Except to the bathroom. 

But yesterday's excursions were necessary, I understood that. And I was thankful for the kind vendors and friend who took me in. 

On my slushy and slow way home through the snow I was thinking to myself that very thought: very pregnant women should not be wandering anywhere. Not the city. Or the malls. Or the countryside. And certainly not *gasp* over the ground of Bethlehem because some *crazy* dude MUST take a census RIGHT NOW. 

Hmmm.

My understanding is that Mary and Joseph had roughly a 5 day excursion to Bethlehem. And while their mode of transportation is not known, I'm sure that it wasn't a pleasant experience. At times I'm tempted to ask God if He provided well for His Son to be born.

A last minute census. 

A funny marital engagement. 

Very odd, even shady, visitors popping up uninvited. 

It's not very "Almighty" feeling... less than ordinary. It seems inconvenient and not well thought out. 

I was humbled last night as I thought about that bothersome census. It quieted my complaining thoughts about the troublesome furnace and the blustery weather. But even more than that, I was thankful that God Almighty wanted to show His people that Jesus was made like us in every way: including the inconveniences of life.