Friday, July 13, 2012

What does your bad day look like? Here's mine.

My daughter has asthma.
I hate asthma. It induces a lot of sleepless nights at my house. The one good thing about when her asthma is acting up: lots of cuddle time:) Anyway, one Friday night, she was having back-to-back asthma attacks, which kept us up to the wee hours of the morning. Coincidentally, my son had a soccer game at NINE the next morning (which should be against the law:). So, we are obviously going to be running late. Wait: have I mentioned yet that my husband was deployed??? Yes. Go figure...
I rush through our morning and get the kids in the car at 8:30, which is a good time, since the soccer fields are about 20 minutes away. I crank the car and immediately hear a long beeping noise. Ugh, this noise lets me know that I am almost out of gas. OMGoodness! Luckily there is a gas station right up the road. At this station, gas was a few cents cheaper than the rest at $3.87. I pull into the gas station with the sign that said: unleaded, $3.87. I swipe my card and pump my gas, grab my receipt and start pulling away, but wait, something doesn't look right on my receipt. Instead of being charged $3.87, I was charged $3.90. I check the sign again: $3.87.
This enrages me. I am a stay-at-home-mom on a budget. False advertising is illegal. I go in and approach the clerk with my nice voice (because "honey catches more flies"--a lesson my husband taught me:), only to be told that she can't help it the sign is broken. I reply that the sign should obviously be turned off (it's electric), if that's the case. Needless to say, I was refunded the change from a very irate employee. It wasn't that I needed the change--it was the principle of the matter!
By now, I have ten minutes to get to the soccer field that is 20 minutes away. I inevitably hit every red light. I get behind someone that can tell I'm in a hurry and then decides to play a game of "not letting me pass" while looking in the mirror laughing.
So, there I am, driving down the road behind a moron.
My heart is POUNDING by the anger that I feel.
I am mad at the asthma that kept me up all night.
I am mad that I had to pump gas and deal with a rude clerk.
I am mad that I am driving behind an idiot.
I am mad that I am dealing with all of this stress with no relief.
I am mad that my husband is not home.
I am mad at my husband.
I am mad that I have no family around to help me.
Tears are in my eyes.
I want to scream.
Have you ever experienced this kind of anger?
Surely, I am not alone.
That is actually not the bad part of this day. Oh, yes, it does get worse!
In the meantime of all this, the day before, I had been offered a job in a town that is the half-way point between my house now and my hometown. Obviously, I would not be taking it, but on this day, the thought crossed my mind.
I could take the job, move closer to my extended family, and see my husband on the weekends when he was off. Why am I in an unfamiliar town away from home anyway? It wouldn't hurt my marriage to move away from my husband. Heck, I could probably see him just as much if I moved...YEAH, RIGHT!!!
Do you see how the enemy snuck right on in and attacked me while I was down???
Yes, he did---and I was going for it!!!
I was mad!!!
What do you do in these situations?
Do you call all of your friends and rally the troops?
In all honesty, that is exactly what I did. I rallied the troops (which is NOT okay). Well, one friend and one family member. I was on a rant. They listened. They agreed with some of the things I said and disagreed with others, but mainly they were on my side. But then a curious thing happened: My husband made a long distance call to me. As soon as I heard his voice, tension melted away. I cried. I told him about my horrible day. I confessed my thoughts. His thoughts on the subject: no, I don't want you to move and I'm sorry I'm not there and let's pray about this.
Man, am I thankful for a husband that prays!!!

I am also very thankful for God's perfect timing! His time is NOT our time. Life is seasonal. Remember that when you are overwhelmed with a toddler or a deployment. Neither of those lasts. Pretty soon you'll be looking at a teenage child and retirement will be here faster than you know. This day in my life was rough, but I took two things from it:
1. Emotions happen, cry out to Jesus.
2. Trust in the Lord.

Oh, and the moron that I was behind: while he did enrage me, that is EXACTLY where I was supposed to be. At the time, I thought he was the spawn of satan, but God could have placed him there to protect me from my hurried driving---He makes ALL things work together for the good of those that love Him in Christ Jesus!!!










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