Since I recently upgraded my house with replacement windows, I expected to see yet another 15% savings in my electric statement. Instead, I was shocked to see my highest bill ever! 60% higher than last year during the same month (with an identical average temperature).
Surely it was a mistake. Perhaps the power company misread the meter? They hadn’t. What possible other explanation could there be. Had I not changed the air filters recently? Had we been that lax in making sure the door to the unheated garage was kept shut?
Then I noticed it – the thermostat! It had been changed to the emergency heat setting – the most inefficient mode. Of course. Another set of buttons being pushed when my eyes were not fixed upon him.
A few weeks earlier I had the expense of replacing the TV. While exploring percussive sounds made upon common household items, it was discovered that a 39” LED HD screen is no match for a drumstick.
Then, a few weeks later Joan found her phone was switched to mobile data. Yes, we are the kind of frugal people who limit (or at least try) to 100 mb apart from connection to a hot spot. And then there was the special snowman (ballerina in this case) globe with music box that was shattered. How many times did I say, “It’s a decoration, not a toy to be played with?”
But most costly is lack of sleep. 5:00 AM is tolerable, but typical early hours like that plus being awakened several times a night? Seems too much to pay sometimes.
I’ve noticed love is costly. The other day “Our Daily Bread” reminded me that I need God-sized love, the kind of love that doesn’t expect to be repaid. The suggested prayer: “Jesus, pour love into me so I may pour it out to others – even to those who can’t repay.”
Whatever expectation of reward I might have as a parent, there are times when I wonder if I’ll be repaid enough. But then, this past Sunday I participated in communion and was reminded of the costliest, God-sized love. He loved, knowing he would never fully be repaid.
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