Have you ever had a deja vu year? I’ve had moments where it hits me with the realization that I have seen this before, walked it before, heard it before or it feels oddly familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
I have never had a deja vu year, at least not that I recall.
3 years ago I had to have my alternator replaced. It decided to go while we were traveling and we spent the weekend replacing it. A few months later I had my tires replaced, they needed to be taken care of, so this was just normal maintenance. Then shortly after that, my engine decided to blow apart on the inside. Turns out that mysterious new sound we were trying to figure out all Summer long, that showed up after an oil change, that the mechanic kept telling us it was the heat shield (3 different times) caused my engine to die and need to be replaced. Oh, and it turns out, after I had my oil change done, they never filled it with new oil. So we had been driving my car for a few months with what little residual oil was in there until they realized it wasn’t the heat shield. Add in a few other unexpected expenses from the year and by December we were ready for a break.
Flash forward to about 2 months ago. My 3 year old alternator, yeah that decided to stop working. So we fixed that, rather quickly and were up and running as normal. I knew two of my tires needed to be replaced. They wore out faster due to needing an alignment, so no surprise there. But the day I had those tires replaced (the next day was my alignment appointment) my engine decided it wanted a say in things and started making a noise. It was clearly the engine and we all knew it. So in it went and now we wait for it to be replaced.
So here we are 3 years later and facing a deja vu year. Add in some other things popping up that we have been through over the years and needless to say, I am like nope, no more.
Sometimes it feels comforting to have some of those deja vu moments because you’ve been through it, it is familiar and it wasn’t so bad or maybe it was a good thing. But when those moments are stacking on things that were not good experiences, even while in a familiar frame, not exactly what you want to be walking through usually. Especially when all the moments are ones you literally have no control over, nor is there anything you can do to speed things up during the wait.
What does one do? No one likes to face these sorts of things, yet they are a part of life. Sure, I know, most of this is an inconvenience and sure we can adjust and flex with some of this. And yes, some of this could have been avoided and some is just a part of being an adult.
Truth be told, I waffle. I waffle between trying to get this figured out and pushing to get answers and solutions or letting go and trusting God. As I grow in my faith, I lean towards the let go and trust God more and more. That being said, I often have to let go and let God many times within same situation.
Trusting God is a simple thing when you think about it and we can use past ways He has been faithful to help us. It may be simple, but not always easy. I have a tendency to keep trying things on my own, even though I know it would go better with God walking alongside, and in the end, I end up turning back to God. Putting my focus on trusting God, His plan, His control.
My hope and prayer for you is that you will lean into God when the struggles come, but also remember to lean into Him in the good times, thanking Him and trusting Him.
Until next time,
~ Liz
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