Last night a took a couple of very cute pictures and planned a really funny (in my esteemed opinion of myself) post for today that was bound to generate tons of comments. But I had paved my road with too many good intentions. Can you guess what today felt like?
So, without further ado, I am going to recount for you my day. I hope I don't bore you. (Too much). I will say, however, thankfully, that it has ended better than it began. (Look for the moral of the story at the end)
- 7:30 - alarm went off, Dave got out of bed, I stayed in bed and prayed for a while, telling God what I wanted out of the day (you know how that goes)
- 8:15 - I got up, put my glasses on, brushed my hair, took the sheets off the guest bed so we can use them for our air-mattress bed for the next two weeks
- 8:30 - Dave left for school, I made my breakfast, put some white clothes in the washer, started washing dishes.
- 8:45 - the doorbell rang (I was still in my pjs, by the way).
- Me: "Who is it?"
- Them (three men on my doorstep): "It's the movers"
- Me (slowly open door as heartrate skyrockets): "Umm. Okay. Well. Hi. Umm. Huh. Well. I thought it was supposed to be Company A, but your shirts say Company S-C"
- Them: "Yes, that's right, we're Company A, and we're here for your household goods shipment."
- Me: "Ummm. Well. Huh. Okay. Good. But, here's the thing. Umm. You're not supposed to be here till tomorrow, because tomorrow is the 13th and today is only the 12th and I'm not ready for you." (clearly, considering I'm still in my jim-jams)
- Them: "Well, our paperwork says we need 2 1/2 days, and that we need to start today."
- Me: "But no one told me. No one told me. And I'm not ready. I had a plan."
- Them: "That doesn't surprise me, but since we've driven 200 miles and left our place at 5:30 this morning, we're really hoping we can get started today."
- Me (panic rising): "But I'm not ready for you. You were supposed to come tomorrow. I would be ready for you tomorrow. I have things I was going to do today to get ready for you tomorrow."
- Them: "Um." (probably thinking I was going to send them away)
- Me: "Well, okay. It is what it is. Come in and have a seat. Let me call my husband."
- 9:00 - called Dave's office. He wasn't there yet. Told office-mate the movers were here today, but not supposed to be till tomorrow. Tried his cell. No answer. Sent him a 911 text. No response.
- 9:05 - Dave called back, and said he had to send an email, but would be home soon.
- 9:06 - Called Marion to see if she could come sit with me and my stuff today so Dave could write (which he seriously needs to do, and God heard a lot about Dave writing in my prayers this morning). But she couldn't. :o(
- 9:07 - changed out of my pjs, and put my hair in a ponytail.
- 9:08 - started to show the mover guys around the house that would have been ready tomorrow so they could get started.
- 9:15 - realized the front door was wide open, and the kitty-cats were not securely locked in the upstairs bathroom (which I had planned to do before they got here tomorrow). Alley was thoroughly nonplussed, and Gypsy was AWOL. She's the most scaredy scaredy-cat ever.
- 9:18 - called Dave to tell him that I couldn't find Gypsy, and could he please hurry faster.
- 9:19 - found Gypsy. Cuddled with her for a minute, then put her into the bathroom with Alley, some food, their litterbox, and I pulled the door shut.
- 9:30 - brushed my teeth
- 9:35 - felt like I was finally starting to calm down after the shock and horror of the past hour.
- 9:45 - Dave got home, showed them his Professional Gear, and they started packing it.
- 10:00 - I put some stuff in our car and secured it so it didn't accidentally get packed (laptop, purse, pillows, fancy-labelled yellow folder, etc.)
- 10:05 - Dave noticed that the guy packing his office had accidentally packed some of his research articles that he needs for his defense - and quickly got them un-packed.
- 10:15 - Found out they could pack food (I had been told they would not pack any food. Maybe tea, cuz it's not food, but no food-food.) so I hustled a few food items into the car to protect them!
- 10:30 - Finally started to work on the room that I had planned to work on at 9:00! (I wanted to save some crafty bits to have around for the next 2-3 months when I am without all of my crafty bits)
- 10:45 - Realized they had packed the CDs that I had planned to burn to my iPod today. Stinkers!
- 11:00 - I decided that I would no longer mention the fact that THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE TOMORROW! To-freakin-morrow! Grrr. (I'm not bitter, I'm just sayin')
- 12:30 - Saw that they had packed the dish drainer and my scrubber, so I made them unpack it, thankyouverymuch.
- 1:30 - had a sandwich while hovering/watching like a hawk to make sure nothing else got wrongly packed.
- 1:40 - Looked in bedroom, noticed that they had packed my worn-so-not-yet-cleaned pjs. (I won't see them again for 2-3 months. They are just going to fester in their dirtiness and infect whatever else they got packed with! Now, mind you, I'm not THAT dirty, so it's not like they are really festering, but I just wanted to only pack clean things!)
- 1:45 - they started loading the crates.
- 2:30 - I noticed that they had packed the sheets that were on the bed that we had been sleeping in. Again, to fester in their dirtiness for the next 2-3 months! Again, we're not THAT dirty. But you wash things like sheets and pjs before they go into boxes for months at a time!
- 3:00 - Dave went back to school to (hopefully) get some work done on the albatross around his neck also known as a thesis.
- 3:50 - They were done, the truck had pulled away. I was free to actually do some of the stuff I had intended to do today - like wash my pjs and bedsheets. :o)
- 4:30 - I went for a litttle jaunt on my scoot-a-boot, and when I was coming home, my lovely neighbor, Tony, invited me over for a cup of tea. So I went. I thought it would be nice and relaxing after my day! As I was walking out onto their porch, his wife, Carmel, said "Oh, Melissa, what scent are you wearing? It's lovely!" I laughed a good, hearty laugh. I said "Carmel, when the doorbell rang at 8:45, I was still in my pjs. I haven't bathed today. My scent is called 'Holy Cow! The Movers Came A Day Early'" :o)
- 6:30 - Dave came home with ingredients to make French Bread Pizza, which was Tase.Tee.
- 8:00 - Dave took his two big black trash bags full of office papers to the back garden and built a nice bonfire. It was dark, and there was a slight crisp in the air - a nice autumnal feeling. We have 3 apple trees in our back garden, so I decided to periodically throw some apples on the fire. It made our burning trash smell a little less like burning trash, and a little more palatable.
- 11:00 - we were done. Campfire was doused. We are pretty stinkin' tired.
I didn't get to read today's reading from the Bible study I do every day (IWED, by CWR) because of the chaos that started my day. Until just now. Hah. It's incredible! Today is totally one of those days that the Bible study you are reading smacks you right in the kisser and says "Listen up, 'cuz I'm about to tell you something important!" Amazing.
The title is "God's Road Map", and the Scriptures are Jeremiah 29:1–13; and Psalm 32:8–10
My all-time favorite verse, ever, in the whole of the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11..."For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And today's reading is all about that. All about choosing God's pathway for our life, and not our own. Choosing to let God lead us in everything we do, and not seek to do our own will. Choosing to accept the curveballs that life throws at us sometimes (or, shall I say, answer the doorbells that life rings sometimes), and turn it into good.
I know I jinxed myself by praying for things this morning like "God, you know what I am hoping to accomplish today. Please help me to be 100% perfectly prepared for this move, and not have anything hanging when the moving guys show up tomorrow. You know how nervous I am about all of this." (totally jinxed myself, right?) (it's like praying for patience!)
And, looking back on the day, I have to laugh at myself. Raise your hand if anything like this has ever happened to you:
- ding-dong You: Who is it?
- Him: It's God.
- You (slowly open door as heartrate skyrockets): Umm. Okay. Well. Hi. Umm. Huh. I thought you were going to give me lots of energy and clarity and help me get stuff done in accordance with my perfect (perfectly human) plan.
- Him: Yes. I'm here to help you, but not in the way you were planning.
- You: Um. Huh. Well. Okay. But here's the thing. I wasn't ready for you today. I will be ready for your call tomorrow, God. I'm just not ready today.
- Him: Well my perfect plan says that you and I are going to need to get started today.
- You: Yeah, but today I've got a million other things to do. Really, God. I mean, you know everything, right, so you know my to-do list, and you know it's as long as my leg, and you have to understand because you made me like this, and so you're just going to have to wait.
- Him: Yes, child, I know all that, but I also know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
- You: But no one told me that today was the day.
- Him: Well...not true. Maybe you were just too busy to listen? Dearest, the truth is that I love you more than you could ever know, and I was really hoping we could get started today. But, it's up to you. I'm going to wait for you right over here until you are ready. Just don't wait too long, okay?
- You (panic rising): Okay, but I'm just not ready for you today. I'll be ready for you tomorrow. I have things I was going to do today. I'm just not ready.
- Him: I'm just over here.
- You: Well, okay then. I can change my plans today. I'm ready to listen to your plans for my life.
Thank you, God, for showing me, once again, that your plans are perfectly perfect. And I may not always see the perfection of them in the midst of it, but you do. And I thank you for loving me so much to hang with me when I was trying to put you at the bottom of my to-do list during this, one of the most challenging times of my life, when I need you the most. When I can't stand on my own, and I have to lean on you. Thank you for being there for me to lean on. I know I can't do this alone. And I know you don't give us more than we can handle, and I'm trusting you to keep me up. And, most importantly, thank you for loving me in spite of the fact that I keep "releasing" this all to you, only to take it all right back. I'm going to try harder tomorrow, God. I know your grace is sufficient for tomorrow. Thanks, God. Goodnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment