Snowpacalypse Feb. 1st, 2011

What I learned today: Ask God for opportunities to improve yourself and He provides.

Here I sit, Reader, tucked into a warm bed and typing away on my new laptop (an incredible Christmas gift from my family). Meanwhile, the worst winter storm in over 40 years is raging outside with 60 mph wind gusts and blowing snow coming down at the rate of about 2-4 inches per hour. Though I was able to leave work early today due to the impending weather, it still took me almost 3 hours to get home. Isn't it funny how all our technological whiz-stuff makes us feel all smart and superior? At least until uncontrollable natural events disrupt everything and rake havoc with our tidy, time-tabled lives.

Ah-ha! But, you see, now is not the time for petty frustration and the grumpy rolling of eyes. For here, God has provided me with an opportunity to practice my word: relinquish. I had the chance to relinquish all control of the situation, my timetable and even my apprehension about driving in bad weather (stemming from my recent auto misfortunes). I took a few deep breaths, stilled my panicky thoughts (what if I get stuck somewhere?) and prayed about it. I prayed for a calm heart and to accept that I am not really in control of what happens next. I gave it over to God, knowing that whatever happened on my drive home, it is part of God's plan and He would be there with me.

Several times I had to mentally stomp on the fear that threatened to spill over at every weather report and dire storm warning, but once I got behind the wheel, I felt a strange sort of working-peace descend over me--my head was clear, my reflexes ready (if need be), but I wasn't panicked or dreading the extended drive. Well, I made it home safe and unruffled. Check off one well-used opportunity to practice my word. I can't wait to see how focusing on these little challenges will shape my character. Can already feel myself stretching in positive ways.

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa

Today's Joy: Taking It Back to Prayer.
It was not a good day, Reader. It started out stinky and got progressively worse. Due to a miscommunication, I found myself sitting alone outside work at 6 am when I didn't need to be there until 7. Certainly inconvenient, but, as my visiting friend was flying out this morning, it seemed doubly so. We could have spent that precious hour having breakfast together. As it was, I left before she woke up and didn't get to say goodbye.

Then, in the afternoon, I went for a follow-up to one of last week's job interviews, got completely lost, drove around for over an hour looking for the new interview location and almost ran out of gas. I finally had to call my perspective contact and, over garbled cell phone reception, ask to reschedule. I felt utterly defeated. Sometime overnight, it seems, I had lost all of my time management and directional skills. Add to that an abnormally intense & painful rush of monthly hormones, which caused me to entertain very un-Christianlike thoughts about the drivers in front of me, and all I wanted to do was come home, eat chocolate and put on my jammies.

The only thing that kept me from being in tears was returning to prayer and handing it all over to God. Don't get me wrong, every moment felt like a struggle today. But without that simple, basic act of asking for help, asking for solace, praying for patience and the self-control not to honk my horn at pretty much everyone on Route 176, I would have felt even worse!

“Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.”
-- Samuel Johnson, English Author

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. ~Voltaire


Quotes courtesy of The Quote Garden.