ProbRes

As I was outside working on a project, I was thinking to myself, “This just isn’t working out!” An old saying popped into my head, “If you wanna make God laugh, just tell Him you have a plan!”😂

I’m an over-thinker. I know it. I own it. I can even laugh at myself about it.

At work this weekend, two of the girls were talking with me. I love these two (biological sisters) because they always make me laugh. Always. And during stressful and depressing times, spending our time with people who can bring out the humor in life is crucial.

Anyway, “the sisters” as they are referred to in our work area, are both smart and capable. They help me a lot. During the particular conversation at hand, we were talking about a product that I was moving with my squeeze truck that wouldn’t fit in the location where the system wanted me to put it. One of the girls said, “Shoot it into PR!” This wasn’t the first time one of the sisters had given me this instruction. (You know how it is, if a thing is worth knowing, it bears repeating!) With my “old brain” coming to a new type of work late in life, sometimes I have to hear instructions multiple times.

This day, I felt a little accomplished because I at least knew what they were talking about. I scanned my item, scanned the barcode for PR, and one of the girls said, “Now what does your screen say?” Looking at the screen, I immediately saw Spanish. I muttered, “Somehow I got myself into the Spanish screen!!! What in the world is ‘probres?’ Is that Spanish for ‘problem?’”They were both like, “Huh! Don’t know!”

As I looked at the screen again, it occurred to me and I said out loud, “Oh geez! That stands for Problem Resolution!” We all three laughed, and we all agreed that I overthink things!

I do this in life, too. If I have a problem or a challenge, I keep digging into it and mulling it over until it drives me crazy. I get tickled at the people on Facebook who start a post, “Ok, calling all my prayer worriers!” I usually think, “Yes, I suppose I qualify as a prayer worrier. I want to be a WARRIOR, but am usually a worrier.”

I spend too much time in ProbRes overthinking things. Not every thing can be or even needs to be fixed. Sometimes the “resolution” is so much simpler than I expected it to be. Sometimes what we are facing is just a part of the human condition. It’s not personally directed at us. It’s not unique to us. We aren’t the only ones dealing with it.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. “‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’”

God is the ProbRes (Problem Resolution) department. I don’t have to understand all the inner workings of my life and and fully comprehend the whole timeline. I just need to keep learning how to trust the process. God’s process.