Two Scoops of Murphy

Written by Matt Clarke | November 24, 2025

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, and it didn’t. The only surprise was exactly how “Murphy” would show up this time. It happens like clockwork that whenever we are out of town or preparing to do something good, something will happen, attempting to derail the trip or render a feeling of helplessness. Heck, I was in Haiti when the great Nashville flood of 2010 hit and left us all out of contact, wondering if our homes were floating into Alabama.

So, when we were out in a remote location, surprised that our phones would even ring and got the call from our neighbor that they smelled gas coming from our garage, it wasn’t a surprise that we had something to deal with, only what flavor it would come in this time.

"When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Silence! Be still!' Suddenly, the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?'" (Mark 4:39)

When the unexpected happens, we can choose how we respond.

That is doing the next right thing. We can either freak out and spark an explosion or respond with calmness and de-escalate the situation. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can do other than to have faith and trust Jesus to sort it out and calm the storm.

I like to ask myself when the expectedly unexpected happens, "What can I control right now and what can I do to help the situation?" Buying a little time to answer those two questions allows me a little room to emotionally maneuver to the next right thing.

Thankfully, the house didn’t blow up, and we were able to get the gas turned off, leaving a minor inconvenience for us to deal with when we got home. Then, when we were sleeping, we got a text from our house sitter that the power had been lost, and poor Louie couldn’t get out of the garage to use the bathroom… A double scoop of Murphy! There must be something spectacular about to happen!!

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