Hey guys! I have another surprise for you all-another guest blogger! My SIL is wise beyond her years. She is full of wisdom and so fun and has such a great perspective on life. I am super blessed to have gained her as a sister when I married my husband. She is doing a life challenge (there is a link below to learn more about this) and I challenged her to write a blog for me to be able to share her words with all of my friends. So, today is the day! Enjoy and show her plenty of love in the comments below!

Bothered By A Blessing

By Asya York

Hey, friends! My name is Asya, yes like the continent. I’m 22 years old, somewhat kicking butt, and occasionally taking names. For real though, I’ve never written a blog and probably wouldn’t have had the courage to do it now if Tiffany hadn’t challenged me on a video project I’m doing (I’ll post a link for those of you who are interested. And I’m just going to pretend that some of you are. Click here to see the video.)

I have a question for you.

What if the blessings you’ve been receiving were not a mass order product? What if they were specifically just for you? On that same note, what if your struggles were given especially to you? What if our Heavenly Father knows exactly what you need and gives it to you when you never even knew you needed it?

For the past few months my car has decided it’s not satisfied sucking down gas like all his other buddies, consuming as much fuel at a time as they possibly can. Oh no! What it’s doing instead is simply hilarious. (some would say). But “some” aren’t the ones forced to deal with this new development in 28 degree temperatures with 10 minutes to get to work. This new development being, that it will pump approximately 8 seconds (give or take a few) and then POP goes the handle! Over… and over… and over. Btw, you’re my new best friend if you sang that to the same tune as “Pop Goes the Weasle” like I did. But anyways, it’s a rather frustrating process. Sometimes I joke that the amount of gas I put in my tank is the same equivalent of how much patience I’m working with that day. Some days I only put $10 in, while other days I manage to push through and almost fill the tank… almost. But I can never quite seem to get to full. I just don’t have the patience or the time.

Are you sensing the lesson here?  Not to mention it can be really embarrassing that everyone else filling their tanks can see (and hear) your car playing this ridiculous popping game. Now, I’m sure I could get this fixed, (and I still may) but something cool happened around month 4 of this struggle. And ya’ll, the struggle was real. At the gas station around the corner from my home I found the magical pump that doesn’t make the handle pop every 8 seconds. Somehow it goes slow enough that it’s able to fill my tank completely, without driving me crazy! This pump used to annoy me back when I had a normal car like everyone else because it was just SO STINKIN SLOW. But now I will actually wait in line for what used to be a frustration. I find myself strangely grateful every time I get to use that pump. And I find myself using the 12 minutes it takes me to fill up my car to sit in silence and be grateful for what most people (and myself) take for granted. Somewhere in those 12 minutes what used to be a bother, became a blessing.

So as I’m pumping my gas this morning, I had to wonder if anyone else has ever had this struggle, or if it was meant just for me. I wonder if anyone else has ever been thankful for the slow pump. My friends and I have gotten some good laughs over this, but I’ll admit, it’s been mostly them. There’s a video somewhere out there of my friend warmly on the inside of my car videoing me, bravely sacrificing myself to the (she thought) funny business of filling the car.

Then this morning as I’m soaking in my 12 minutes of calm, it really hits me how my experience with this story has slowly (and I mean slooowly) made a change in me. As silly as it sounds, my gas tank has, on a weekly basis for the past 6 months, reminded me to grow in patience. Made me more grateful and appreciative. And made me more aware of lessons the Father puts in our path.

For me this was mostly a gentle reminder to stay positive through trials small and large, and maybe find some friends who can help you laugh through it.

What a blessing it is to be bothered.