Remember last week when I wrote a Victory Call (#PrinterProbs) about how I’m doing such a better job relying on God when I’m stressed? I gave you a scenario – it was a really busy season at Keswick, I had hundreds of programs to print, I had a close deadline, and my printer was down. But I wrote about how I wasn’t worried or stressed about it, because I was learning to trust God more.

Yeah… can I take that back?

I did an awful job with trusting Him yesterday. Like, really bad. I had hundreds of postcards to mail and 2500 Prayer Calendars to send out, but the computer program that I use to address envelopes and postcards wasn’t working. The worst part? My boss couldn’t help me fix it because he was on vacation in LONDON (the nerve!)

I’d like to say that the first thing I did was drop everything and pray about it. I’d like to say that I was rational. I’d like to say that I completely trusted that God would work it all out.

But I can’t say that.

Nope.

That’s not what today’s Victory Call is about. It’s about my shortcomings. I tried to do everything on my own – everything – and it didn’t produce the results I’d hoped for. Here’s a basic rundown of yesterday afternoon…

1. I recreated the address sheet no less than 13 times.
2. I restarted the computer… twice.
3. I tried to do updates on the program.
4. I cried a little bit.
5. I restarted the computer again.
6. I realized that the program still wasn’t accepting the addresses.
7. I cried a little bit more.
8. I tried to merge mailing lists and create address labels on Microsoft Word.
9. I got the IT guys involved.
10. I called the company that runs the program – no answer.
11. I cried a lot.
12. I tried to save my documents in different formats.
13. I asked Google. Google was no help.
14. My second printer decided to break in the middle of printing for the Prayer Calendar. (Cherry on top!)
15. I almost pulled out my hair.
16. I called the printer repair guy to fix my machine. No answer. Message left!
17. I asked some coworkers for advice (and for words of affirmation and chocolate).
18. I went upstairs with tears running down my face to see if there were any other mailing machines that could do large printings. There wasn’t.
19. The printer guy called me back all concerned, making sure I was OK because I sounded really distressed on the phone.
20. I hung up, went to the back office, and let myself have a good old-fashioned cry.

Can anyone spot what was missing from that list? Look over it again! The answer? Prayer. I got so caught up in the moment and caused myself so much stress when I could have given it to God the moment I started to feel overwhelmed. Now the end of the story is this: the problems were figured out, the printer guy came, and everything that needed to be mailed was mailed. But what a process. I could have saved myself so much frustration, trouble, and concern just by doing exactly what I said I was learning to do in last week’s Victory Call – trusting Him more.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guide your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

Guess I need to develop more of a Philippians 4:6-7 mindset, huh?

Erin Culleny serves as a Marketing Assistant and Staff Writer. She loves encouraging women through her Victory Calls and finds such joy in praying for her sisters in Christ. Her favorite activities include reading her Bible, encouraging others with scripture, buying new makeup, buying dresses, and eating at the Cheesecake Factory… In that order!