Be Salty. Be Sweet. Shine!

7:20 a.m.  YIKES!!  I fly out of bed, run around throwing on lights – “TEN MINUTES!!! WE HAVE TO BE OUT IN TEN MINUTES!”  Everyone jumps, runs, dresses, grabs, gets to the car, to school on time.

Phew!  On with the day.

To work.  Times need to be entered. Internet won’t cooperate. Or maybe it’s my computer. Or both?  BAH!!

Open the internet bill.  It’s gone up $20.  What?  Oh, and by the way, I’ve been paying $20 extra for three months now!  Brilliant of me to notice.  Nearly an hour and a half, and four reps later: the issue is solved, but I am out $60 I won’t see again.  Did I mention the electric bill is over-due?

Conversation with my man.  A regular job would really help.  These odd jobs aren’t cutting it. Household bills are eating us up.  I’m over it.  He’s over it.  We are over each other for the day.

To school to pick up the teenager.  Said teen is nowhere in sight – for quite some time.  He finally comes out to the car, and there is a problem.  So back inside we head, to deal with people, ask for help, and grace a teacher. Thirty minutes later, we have somewhat of a solution, but now we’re late for court.

Run home.  Can’t find his shirt. Can’t find his pants.  Can’t find his tie.  Can’t tie the tie.  Can’t find his cases.  Bridge is backed up.  Sitting in stand-still traffic.  On the phone, apologizing for being late.

Headache… I have a headache?  Come to think of it, I’ve had it all day.  Just sitting there, pulsating, a slow, steady drive in my head that’s clouding my thinking.

Oh… and I am itching like crazy.  What the heck did I eat?  Must have been wheat hidden in something I grabbed on the fly.  Can’t stop scratching.  I think I’m gonna scream…

But I don’t.  We make it to court.  The teen argues his cases successfully, tie properly tied.  The tween shadows attorneys and learns something. We all make it home hungry and exhausted, but none the worse for wear.

Oh there’s more… issues between my kids and their friends, shortage of groceries, a minified paycheck, a rejected payment that has to be made up, and yes, even more.

But we are home.  And we all still love each other. And my daughter still wants to sit up close to me on the couch tonight.  And that’s something.

And as the day begins to roll off my shoulders, and I sink into my bed, I am thankful to have simply made it without falling apart.

Either Murphy’s Law was in full play today, or the devil was mad at me and trying to take me out.

And I suspect the latter, because here is what I posted in the morning, just after managing to get the kids to school on time, and just before the day took a downward spiral:

Life happens. People happen. Stuff happens. We have a choice – we can face life and all the precious people in it with grace, or we can go through our days angry about the hand we have been dealt, regretting chances never taken and people hurt along the way.

We can admit our wrongs and ask forgiveness and move forward with a bounce in our step and a song in our hearts, or we can carry burdens of resentment and mistrust that make us heavy, slow us down, and keep us from ever reaching out for the things we most desire. We can face the dark and become a part of it, or we can turn our faces to the light and then turn, and illuminate the darkness.

For more encouragement, and a heavy dose of grace, visit  Jami Amerine of Sacred Ground Sticky Floors http://sacredgroundstickyfloors.com/