Not able to sleep: a blessing in disguise

Tonight I planned to go to bed early. I turned down multiple social engagements and just wanted to call it an early night...I am exhausted from finals, am feeling under the weather, and I have to get up at 5:30 for my clinic shift tomorrow--but for some reason I just couldn't sleep--something that has been no problem at all lately.

So...for the story to come full circle you need to understand that my dishwasher hasn't really worked well for the past few months, but considering the 'manager' (who I like as a person, a great deal) happens to be 19 or so, a friend of the owner, entirely unqualified to manage rentals...(I learned that after trying for 3 months to get the washing machine fixed) so I have just been washing my dishes by hand. It's not really a problem, usually I have them done while cooking.

But...being so tired from finals this week...I wasn't quite as up to doing dishes and just put them into the dishwasher as I used them instead...so when I went up to bed earlier...set it on timed delay...just as I do every night I run the dishwasher...

Only tonight when I couldn't sleep sat at my kitchen table sorting through photos (which happens to be a favorite absent-minded activity when I am tired) and I smell smoke. The thought crosses my mind that something may have fallen onto the heating element in the dishwasher (I once melted the handle of a measuring cup that way) so I walk into the kitchen that is now filled with smoke, and open the dishwasher up to find nothing out of the ordinary--except for the small fact that my dishwasher is on fire.

I love God and the fact that being unable to sleep tonight truly was a blessing in disguise.