Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. (Psalms 103:2-3)
For the past two years, Dee and I have been battling problems with our air conditioner. It all started innocently enough in June 2021 with a “Possible Frozen Coil” error message on the first day of a 10-day brutal heatwave (which is completely unheard of in the frozen tundra). I called our service plan company immediately and to my chagrin they said their first availability was in 10 days. By the next morning, my panic over the timing and heatwave reached a boiling point (pun intended), so I decided to call another company. To their credit, that company sent someone out immediately, but unfortunately the guy didn’t know what he was doing. Instead of fixing the problem, he only made things worse, leaving behind a bit of a mangled mess.
Over the next couple years, we tried resolving the problem with our service plan company, but the core problem essentially went unsolved. This year the problem progressed from just a concerning error message to a frightening leak by the furnace every time we dared use the A/C. Finally a week ago, we completely washed our hands of it. Dee recommended we use a new company altogether. I did my diligence (led by fervent prayer) and we ultimately settled on a new company to scrap everything and start afresh. They came in yesterday like a well-oiled machine. Imagine my joy as the mangled mess was carried away and replaced with an immaculate whole new setup.
One of the surprising joys was a big company sticker they left behind on the new unit. It’s a sticker I’ll look at from this point forward with thanksgiving as I admire the great work that they did. It was a job so stellar that even my Dad (who could fix anything and everything with marksman precision) would be proud of it. Whereas the company stickers on the old unit were littered with frustration and battle-scars, this one might as well read “DAD!” on it.
I happened to mention the work we had done yesterday to a group of close friends, and one responded with: “Your father would have fixed the existing setup in seconds.” That brought a smile and a tear, as with each passing trial like this, my Dad simply amazes me more by the day. It also got me thinking once again about my relationship with my heavenly father and how thankful I am not only of the refining work He continues to do in my life but most importantly the seal of salvation He eternally stamped on me that reads “JESUS!”