One of Those Days

Yesterday was One of Those Days.

One of those days…

…when you don’t hear your alarm and you oversleep. 

…when you open the garage door and find that the rabbit who lives there had gotten a little happy during the night and sprayed its reddish-brown lovelies all over the hood of your silver car, and then kicked hay and pellets on it. And then everything froze.

…when you go to start that silver car and realize its oil supply has been depleted and you do not have an extra jug in the garage to refill it with. So you drive it anyway.

… when breakfast is a protein drink that you shake in the cup as you hurry out to the car, lunch is bought while on an errand across town (forgive me, Lord), and supper is a granola bar taken from the kids’ breakfast stash in the church cupboard (forgive me again, Lord).

…when you wait until you arrive at work to look into a mirror, and you realize that your hurried updo did not actually conceal the fact that you chose to forgo brushing your hair that morning, like you had hoped it would. And those tights? Really don’t match your outfit.

…when you spend 14 minutes trying to load a spool of tape into the nifty label machine, and then the next 17 minutes googling for the online manual, only to finally click the right link and be told that you were indeed pushing all the right buttons - you had just neglected to replace the back cover. Which is apparently the magic step that makes the whole contraption work.

…when you grab an oversized bag in a full embrace to help someone carry their load, and then discover that the side you are hugging is covered in a fine red glitter, and you are now fully glitterized for the rest of the day, despite the multiple pieces of sticky sheets you rolled up and down your body.

… when you text someone and the reply texts come back repeatedly saying they don’t know you and you think they’re just playing a joke. But then multiple texts into the conversation you finally realize that you indeed typed one digit wrong, and the person you are texting really doesn’t know you.

… when you arrive at a client’s house to take their dog on a 40 minute walk in true Wisconsin winter weather, and you realize you left your gloves at home.

… when you notice that you are on day 43 of the current year, and have yet to write dates and events into that cute daily planner you were so sure was going to be the key to organizing your life.

…when you stand in the aftermath of a tornado your home and try not to think about how long it’s been since you vacuumed the floor, while you eat applesauce with a measuring spoon because all the normal dinner spoons are dirty.

… when you criss-cross the town and have to visit the same store 3 times because you didn’t make a shopping list, and you kept forgetting things that you should have remembered.

… when more things were written on the to-do list than were crossed off.

… when you were busy doing everything, but accomplished nothing.

And then you receive a phone call.

And with that call, it will become one of those days… when you learn that a dear friend woke up that morning to find her illness had taken a turn for the worse, that she was coughing up mouthfuls of blood, and that she was to be admitted to a hospital hours away from home to receive treatment.

Suddenly, the words of the apostle Paul will begin to sound in your mind:

"Look not every man on his own things,

but every man also on the things of others."

Philippians 2:4

And you will clearly see that while your day was filled with drama, there was not much sorrow; that you experienced inconvenience, but did not know heartache. When the sun goes down your day's episode will quickly fade and be forgotten (unless you blog about it). But for your friend, her journey will have only just begun.

In that instant, you will realize that the little bumps in your road should not be envisioned as something to stumble upon, but rather a hurdle to leap over as you rush to help a friend climb their mountain.

In that instant…

…cleaning your car, vacuuming the floor, and washing the dishes are no longer on the to-do list. In fact, you don’t even know where your to-do list is. The only list you’re focused on is a prayer list.

… your 31 minute struggle with the label machine seems foolish; you have a friend who is struggling for her life.

…you forget your embarrassment over the text-message-mix-up, and suddenly want to pick up the phone to text, call, and plead with everyone you know and everyone you don’t know, asking them to lift your friend up in prayer.

… you don’t care that your hair is still a disaster, that you lived the day covered in red glitter, and that society saw you in a mismatched outfit. You’re not going to care when you walk out of the house today, either, because chances are that your hair will still look a bit neglected and your mind might not be clear enough to match those clothes yet, but that’s ok. Heaven knows you spent the midnight hours petitioning God for a miracle, and God doesn’t need a fashion show to grab His attention. He just wants to see your faith. And you know that your God can perform the miracle you are asking for.

In that instant you will most certainly stop doing everything, and will do nothing but show your friend that you love her dearly.

I know. 

Because that day you just read about?

It was mine.