There’s this old joke that says—When should you buy life insurance?
Answer: The day before you die.
If we all had a crystal ball, imagine how many heartaches and hardships might be averted. But we don’t, so we mere mortals are left to make our decisions day by day, blind to what’s coming around the corner. And on an average day that usually works out just fine.
But last Monday was not an average day.
I plopped into my desk chair, typed in my blog URL, and… nothing happened. My website was down. Huh. That’s weird. But then a few minutes later an e-mail popped up in my inbox from my web host—informing me they’d deactivated my account. For no good reason, with no warning. Just gone—poof.
And did I mention this happened to be our first day of a book launch campaign?
An author without a website during a book launch is like an ice cream truck without a freezer on a hot summer day. People aren’t going to get what you promised them.
So I freaked for about 30 seconds. But then I remembered my insurance policy.
Melissa.
In January, I hired a tech consultant—the lovely Melissa Thorpe—to run regular maintenance on my website. This was new for me. I’ve been blogging for nine years, and for most of those nine years I just took it on faith that my site was going to cooperate. However, when Melissa reached out with an offer to enroll in her consultant plan last winter, I thought—can’t hurt, might help. I mean, I do run my entire writing ministry and coaching business through this little website o’ mine, and a crash would be—let’s just say—inconvenient. Some backup is probably a wise investment.
As last week proved unequivocally true.
Without Melissa on call, I would’ve had no recourse or knowledge of where to turn to solve my grievous problem. Panic would’ve been my default response. And my ministry—my book launch—might have suffered because of it.
But all I had to do was send an e-mail S.O.S., and Melissa was on the case. In less than 24 hours, all my systems were back up and running—on a more reliable host, thank you very much, Mrs. Thorpe.
Do you have panic moments, too? Not a website crash, necessarily, but life in general. We all face unexpected problems, obstacles, and heartaches that come out of nowhere and kick our happy little routine off course. When that happens, where do you turn?
Do you have an on-call agreement with Jesus?
In troubling situations, our natural response might be to freak out. But when we sign up for God’s insurance plan—when we know Him on a personal, Lordship level—He gives us the resources to tackle any problems as they come. The key is to stay close to Him in the good times (through prayer and Bible study and fellowship and accountability) so that when the bad times come, we won’t need to scramble for solutions like peace and comfort. We’ll already own them.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
The web host fiasco reminded me once again how important it is to choose Jesus on a daily basis—before disaster strikes. And I want you to choose Him, too. That’s why my website (and my books and my videos and my social media posts) exists in the first place. The purpose has always been to point us all to Jesus. So are you choosing Him today? Let’s do it together.
You, me, and my new web host (thanks, Melissa!).
Blessings,
Becky
P.S. My new book, The Cranky Mom Fix, is loaded with Scripture and biblically sound principles to apply to your daily life as a wife and mom. It’s an excellent and practical tool to help you stay close to Jesus. Order it online today or find a copy at your local Christian bookstore.
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