(September 25, 2023) Mama Lava shares a devasting experience… and adds a warning about casual flippancy.

No doubt you’ve heard people casually saying, ‘God knows what is coming. So what could possibly go wrong?’ Said it yourself?

Famous last words, right? Oh, how I’m learning not to flippantly act like I am in control of anything!

Personal example…
I had hastily volunteered to babysit my grandkids, a day’s drive from my house, while my husband Michael and the girls went to a 2-day concert the weekend.

What could possibly go wrong, right?

48 hours before we were to leave on the trip, Michael had emergency surgery to repair a fully torn tendon in his shoulder. Now we found ourselves committed to travel, but rightly concerned about his pain meds, wound care, and one-handed life on the road.

Then – if all that wasn’t enough – we spotted a mouse in the house!

We’d called our pest control service and scheduled the earliest available technician. He came the day before we were supposed to leave.

Expandable foam
Firstly, he asked me to take everything out of the cabinets. Then he set traps. Then he suggested we get expandable foam from a local hardware store to close some gaps between the cabinets and the wall so critters could not visit again.

My convalescing husband was unable to help but asked if I thought I could do it?

‘Sure,’ I said confidently, and bought a can. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Back home, I attached the straw-like attachment to the pressurised can. I didn’t read the instructions because the words were tiny. Anyway, how hard could it be? I reasoned. I looked at the pictures and they were simple. I aimed and pulled the trigger.

The foam went up into the gaps as planned. Emboldened, I sprayed more and more, filling every gap the technician had pointed out. The wet, sticky stuff got too heavy and began to fall. I caught it and pushed it back into the crevices!

Foam fingers
I didn’t want to touch the can with goopy hands, so I went to the sink, turned on the water, pumped some soap into my palm, and rubbed my hands together. The foam spread all over my fingers and my hands, front and back.

But it didn’t wash off! I called to Michael who asked if I had read the instructions. I admitted that I hadn’t. I told him about the pictures. He noticed the hands in the illustrations were gloved. Oops. I hadn’t picked up on that.

We went to Google. It suggested acetone so I poured nail polish remover all over my hands. It did nothing to discourage the expandable foam, which was quickly drying and creating a fiberglass-like hard covering. We tried olive oil and peanut butter (hey, it works on gum!). We tried different soaps and ointments. Nothing worked.

I removed my coated rings and tried to clean them. No luck. I had to leave them off. And while we wondered what to do about my hands, the foam started falling again. It slid, drying, down the wall and onto the countertop. It was a huge mess!

The contents of my cabinets were spread over the kitchen and dining room. There was expanding foam drying on the walls and countertops. I hadn’t packed yet and could barely move my hands!

And I was now facing being only a day away from a 12-hour drive with a passenger who not only couldn’t help behind the wheel but was fresh from surgery and needed me to be his hands for the next 6-8 weeks!

Reflections on that saying
‘What could possibly go wrong?’ A whole lot apparently!

I cried. I thought about staying home. I wondered if God would have stopped me from volunteering to babysit had I prayed it through first. And I remembered Proverbs 19:21 – ‘Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.’

But I hadn’t prayed first, I’d just given my word. The concert tickets were not cheap, and I was on the hook. I went to pack. In my coated hands, my clothes felt like microfibre feels on dry skin. Have you ever felt that? It’s cringy like chalk on a chalkboard!

We got a few hours of sleep and went to California. I kept my hands covered for a few days. Eventually I noticed friction knocked little shards of coating away. So, I removed the gloves, and by the end of the week, my hands were almost back to normal.

Our 8-day trip went so well!
I had a wonderful weekend with my grandkids and my husband enjoyed spending time with our daughters at the concert. We praised God, so glad we hadn’t backed out. But… there was one more looming apprehension as we drove home.

Was there a mouse in a trap, ripe and reeking from days of decomposition? Would it have avoided the traps and gotten into the other pantry, making waste of all our food? Or would neither be true, leaving us guessing what else it had done.

God was gracious to us. The mouse was in the trap! And it did not stink. Given the circumstances, that was the best possible outcome.

Answer to that saying, that question
The right answer is, ‘Any number of things!’ My story is a prime example! And I’d learned a very valuable lesson – I need to take time to pray before I make decisions.

I think people are more apt to ask God before we take a major step, such as moving, or getting married. (Even then, we tend to think that we oversee our schedules). How much better would it be to run all our agendas before the One who knows the future?

God will help us!
Many things go wrong. That’s life. Some of it is orchestrated to teach us, others we bring on ourselves. My personal story above includes both.

But… you know what? God is on the throne, watching over His own. And He is helping us. He may not stop things from going wrong, but He takes the time to teach us through them and make things right again.

Today, my hands are good, my husband is healing, and my kitchen is back in order. Well… we’re going to need to sand and repaint the wall, but that can wait a beat or two.

Psalm 139:4 is comforting – ‘Before a word is on my tongue you. Lord, know it completely.’ God is good – all the time!

Thank you for reading. How are things with you? Troubled? Do remember that…

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Mama Lava has a concerned motherly heart and believes in making the big world a bit smaller through caringly connecting. Regularly sharing encouragements, she tells of life experiences from an unapologetically Christian viewpoint. Link: Mama Lava’s Back Porch (A Dose of Maternal Love).
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