A Moment of Grace

I don’t put much on the Groft blog, in fact I don’t think I ever have. I tend to leave it all to Jenni. But I had a moment of grace yesterday (6/17/08) that I felt like I needed to post about.

If you know our family you probably know I work for our family business, testing the integrity of fuel systems and certifying the monitoring and leak detection systems associated with them. I have been with Mom and Dad for fifteen years now and they have said on several occasions that when they retire or, God forbid, pass away the business will be mine. It is a nice niche market but of course with any small business there are ups and downs. There are six fulltime employees and we are all related.

Summertime is a tough time in the industry especially here in Arizona. Most of the testing we do is during the day and is for the most part in the middle of the parking lot where there is little to no shade.

This past week my parents went back to Louisville, KY for a family reunion and at the last minute my brother Andy, who also works with us, decided to go back with them. I tried to keep a positive attitude about the whole thing, but after driving three hours to Yuma and doing a split shift, the devil got the best of me and I started to feel sorry for myself. I started wondering: “How can the company survive when half the employees go on vacation at same time? Am I the only one who cares about the future of the company? Are we in the right industry? How are we going to pay for the kids’ tuition this year?” I literally made myself sick worrying about everything.

I then remembered a magazine I had picked up the day before on sale at a catholic book store. It is called Magnificat and it has all of the readings for the days of the month. I opened to the morning readings for the day and started reading and when I got to the gospel it blew me away.

Matthew 6: 26-30
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

Thank you, God. I am sorry for doubting your promise.