Why is it that when a girl has had a variety of guests moving in and out of her house for three weeks straight and needs to get three of her sons packed and ready to head to camp for a week…
Her washing machine breaks?
It waited until the exact moment we used our last clean towel and needed to put clean sheets on the bed for our oldest son who was coming home from traveling (with a full suitcase of dirty camp clothes). No big deal.
I actually had to laugh when it happened because this was the fourth break-down in a series of doozies. “Of course my washing machine just broke,” I said to my dirty sheets as I pulled them back out of the washer. “The timing couldn’t be better; I can’t wait to tell Matt.”
Ahhh, Matt. At the time of my broken washing machine discovery, that guy was on our roof trying to find the source of a major leak issue. And the day before he’d been on the roof of one of our rental houses doing the exact same thing.
We still haven’t made a decision about buying a new-to-us vehicle since our van died a few weeks ago. And did I mention my grill won’t stay lit? Eh…who needs grilled steak or my very favorite grilled chicken? Who even does?
One might say, “The Coppingers sure are having a rough summer,” but I’m here to say that I’m actually having a great summer! When I look at the big picture of my life I see what’s actually true:
- No fewer than four families offered to loan us a car until we get our van situation figured out. Four families! We took one family up on their offer because they had a car they weren’t even using right now. God provides.
- Matt was able to stop the roofing work he was doing in order to spend a few hours fixing our washing machine. It was ready to go again just before the boys needed to wash laundry and pack. God provides.
- We haven’t had rain since the leaky roof discovery, and while we always welcome rain for the farms and gardens, we are thankful that Matt was able to fix the leak situations before the next downpour. God provides.
- I miss the grill but until we can figure that issue out, I’ve got two crock pots, a stove-top, and have recently come up with a passel of Waffle Iron Recipes that help me avoid heating up the house with an oven. All together now…God provides.
Inconvenience isn’t the same as heart-ache. Broken things are just broken things. So who even cares that my coffee pot stopped working? Oh yeah, by the way, my coffee pot also stopped working. Now that one did threaten to push me over the edge into a pit of despair. I don’t even need transportation or clean clothes, but I do need coffee. I kid, I kid. Also, Mr. Coffee himself sent me a new one at no charge so does God provide? Oh yes I think He does.
And with that, I shall share with you 20 No-Bake Snack and Treat Recipes. We all need these whether we have a grill, a working vehicle, or a washing machine. Avoid turning on the oven and fill your fridge and freezer with these. They are low in sugar and super refreshing and tasty!
- Chewy Granola Bars
- Chocolate Frappe
- Coconut Fudge Bars
- Stevia Sweetened Fat Bombs or Honey Sweetened Fat Bombs
- Frozen Yogurt Cups
- Honey Peanut Bars
- Mudballs
- Nectarine Cream Cups
- No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Bites
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites
- No-Bake Snickerdoodle Bites
- Pineapple Fluff Salad
- Raspberry Lemon Cream Cups
- Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
- Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
- Americana Cheesecake Parfait
- Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee or Fruit
- Strawberry Milkshake
- Strawberry Peach Slushie
- Pineapple Mango Smoothies
How’s your summer going? Are all things in working order at your house?
Thinking I will make all of these when we get back from vacation. Maybe it will keep my four hungry kids fed for a few weeks? ????
(OK, one is a baby, but the other three do eat a ton …)
First our van of more than 10 years. Then our dishwasher went out. Thanks to Craigslist (and God’s provision of course) we got a much nicer one that we love for around $50. Now our dryer is out, but as you said, God provides. The hard part is usually the patience to wait. Love your prospective! I also always try to remember that the kids are watching and that it is great to remind all of us to depend on Him and to be thankful for all the things we take for granted.
Laura, I love your ability to always look on the brighter side! Our blender finally died in May. And I have been holding out on buying a new one. Because with blenders, it’s either go big or stay home. Then, I realized that if I defrost frozen fruit in the freezer over night, I can still make smoothies with my immersion blender. However, my husband recently won an Amazon gift card at work, so it looks like a new blender might be in my future after all.
I sure sympathize with you and the trail of broken things at your house!! I have had no cold water in my shower for going on two years now! ( had a plumbing ‘handyman’ over and for two hours of blowing air from an air compressor into the faucet, charged me $220.!!!) Didn’t do ANYthing, so now I have to pay someone again to hopefully, get it actually fixed!! My house was built in 1945 and it was not built well. The foundation is crumbling away and I have about a 3″ gap between the wall and the floor in my west-facing bedroom that I cover with two 4″ round 6′ long pillows to keep the critters out! So, it could always be worse! I do have to thank God it isn’t worse and that I do have a roof over my head and food for the table. Hoping to get the shower fixed by next winter!!! (have had several auto issues, and as I use my jeep to work out of, it gets priority right now.) Here’s hoping that all of the repairs are over for awhile, at least for both of us!
How much do I love this post?!?! Such a good reminder that God is watching and will look out for us. I’m glad all of your repairs are going well and thanks for new recipes to try when my mom is visiting in a couple of weeks.