"Stinkerbell"

My fridge has never been so sparkling clean

"StinkerBell"

The weather has been crazy around here. One day it's 80 degrees (in Feb?) and two days later it's sleeting ice and rain and 14 degrees. I seem drawn to the refrigerator time and again, not because I'm hungry but because I'm bored.
One of those times I opened up the freezer door to look for something to defrost for dinner. My eyes perused the contents of the freezer which were kind of getting low. There was that ground chicken Tommy bought...(Ground chicken? Really?) Noo...wasn't really up for that tonight...wait, wait, wait a minute, something dragged my eye back to that chicken, I looked at it a little more closely. It was completely defrosted. In the freezer. I touched it and there was no doubt. I then realized there was no ice. And the skirt steak was defrosted as well. Panic. I opened the other half of the side by side and looked at the contents realizing with dismay that everything was warm. Temp settings. All good. Plugged in. Check. Breakers. All on. Should have realized it wasn't the breakers, because the internal lights were still on.
I called my best friend who has an AC business with her husband and asked if there was anything I should do. I figured if anybody would have good advice at this time of night, it would be her. She and her husband got on the phone and talked me through some more checks. Fridge back off. Check. Compressor still hot. That's good, means it's still on. Fan. Uh-oh. There it was. Must be the fan motor, they said, as they talked me out of my hysteria.The fan was way in the back where I couldn't reach it. I poked it with a long stick to see if I could get it started again. Nothing. I unplugged it with a great big wintery sigh.
So...out to the garage in the 14 degree weather to find the cooler. I debated sending my daughter out to the Qwik Check for ice....but that would be ridiculous when so much is on the ground. I grabbed my shovel and got to work filling the ice chest.
Back inside I filled it with all of the things that needed refrigerating. It was disconcerting to me that I had just spent eighty dollars at the store and it only filled up half an ice chest. The dogs were nosing around me wondering what in the world Mama was up to tonight. This week we had an extra guest and an extra puppy so our small kitchen was full of people, animals, food and activity. We really needed that fridge. I knew there was no way anybody was going to make it out in this weather to fix it. About that time one of the kids looked out the window. "It's SNOWING!" And boy was it. It didn't stop for twelve hours.
Five days later there is still ice on the ground. And the fridge is still not fixed. I called the appliance place in town and they referred me to somebody else who never answered the phone. When I finally reached them they told me there would be a sixty dollar charge just to come out, even if I declined their services and furthermore that they couldn't be out for another week. I then did what I should have done in the first place and looked in the phone book. The first name that popped up was my Sunday school teacher? Hallelujah!
In the meantime I had to take Tommy back to the airport. I left the dogs in the kitchen as I always do when I leave. They were peacefully reposing on their beds when I left. When I returned the first thing I saw was the refrigerator cord. On the floor. Not where I had left it. Chewed. All. Up. It was a bad, bad moment. I sent the dogs, Sam and bad, bad Belle out to play. How can one tiny dog cause such havoc in a household? I think I will rename her "Stinkerbell"
So it's been a rough, rough week. There have been times I have caught myself walking around in a panic telling myself "I can't DO this anymore, I canNOT do this anyMORE!" But as the words crossed my lips again tonight I heard another voice. This one said Yes, you can. You can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens you.
It stopped me in my tracks. All things. That means these things. It means He has given me the grace to deal with a broken refrigerator in a house with a plethura of stranded people (who can't get home) who need food, a husband who is stranded in Ohio, cold, icy, wet, nasty, and did I mention cold weather, mud, mud, and more mud, dishes, dishes and more dishes, and dogs, dogs everywhere. And no school for kids for a WEEK. One stir crazy mess.
But by His grace we got through it. And will continue to get through it. One day at a time.