Rejoicing in the moment

Today was full of moments where the choice to rejoice was not easy.

When I woke up this morning the pain that had visited me in the night was still here. I spent some time in a prayer walk remembering there are many reasons to rejoice.

I headed to the bank and for the first time ever, encountered a long line. I then made my way over to the ancillary courthouse to renew the registration on my car. The line wasn't out of the building but it did weave all over the room and entailed a 45 minute wait. Actually this gave me more time to pray and rejoice. Rejoice that I had a bank account and rejoice I can drive around town. Believe me, for anyone who has spent eight months using public transportation this is a phenomenal reason to rejoice.

Next I made my way through heavy traffic to medical center. I was headed down for some blood tests. A dear friend is a great doctor who wants to keep me as healthy as possible. Toward that end he wanted to see if there is anything else he can help me with. I always find a nice parking place in the street when I visit him. I put my money in the meter and headed in. There was a little bit of a back-up in the lab and I was five minutes late getting back to my car. You guessed it, I got my very first parking ticket.

I use meters all the time, at least two or three times a month. This is the first time I have ever missed a deadline. I usually leave a meter with time on it for the next guy to use. It is the cheapest way to park in a city of parking garages.

I called the help line number listed on the citation and chatted with a clerk downtown. I explained what had happened. I couldn't help but laugh as I told her I thought it was a bit rude to get a ticket when I had always been on time before. She started laughing and then apologized. I told her there was no need for her apology. I explained I had spent some time this morning praying for moments to rejoice today. I then told her all the things that had happened. At this point she could hardly catch her breath between the laughs. She said I certainly had a good attitude. I told her I didn't do it on my own. I told her what made the difference today was the time I spent this morning with The Attitude Adjuster. She thanked me and said I had given her much to think about.

Of course to round out the day I spent a good deal of time on I 10 going nowhere. As I was stuck in what had become a large parking lot I pondered the day. I got what I asked for this morning, though not necessarily the way I would have wanted. It really was a day full of moments to rejoice.

Thankful for answered prayer,

jene'

Hope

It's hard to lose a friend. Especially one who has been by your side and encouraged you as you both fought against evil. Thankfully when she is a child of God you can be comforted in knowing you will see her again when you meet together in heaven. That gives hope and a reason for rejoicing.

Missing someone I love,

jene'

Birthday curse?

Today I became 45 years old.

Today summer began.

Today anything that could go wrong, did.

I went to work early to cover for a friend who is having surgery. Doing her job meant getting all the cash registers counted and ready to face the new day. Because we had flooding on Monday, we didn't get our regular delivery from the bank. So this morning instead of one change order to count there were two. The procedure has also changed since I last did the accounting and as I was unable to find the things I needed to do it the old way, I gave the new way a shot. While I was still trying to make my way through morning duties and find missing paperwork, a colleague was injured. As I am also a nurse my help was sought to deal with his bleeding thumb and was it ever! I asked someone else to watch over the cash while I rendered what aid I could to the "patient" before he was taken to the doctor. Between my error in counting, a clerical error with a check, and missing validation papers I found myself way behind schedule. By the time I got almost everything complete it was time to go to lunch.

Normally I go to lunch somewhere in the noon to two o'clock neighborhood. Scheduling constraints being what they were I found myself the recipient of a ten a.m. lunch hour. Deciding to make the best of it, I had breakfast.

When I finally found my way to the sales floor I came in contact with several rather unique people. It also seemed that each time I answered the phone I was destined to get the same sort of person. At this point I accepted the fact that this was to be a most unusual day. It really became quite funny to see how the day progressed and just what would happen next. Someone asked if I was under a birthday curse.

The remainder of the day included a very low tire, very slow traffic, and dropping a very, very heavy object on my foot.

You may be asking yourself if I consider this to be my worst birthday ever. The answer is no. Last year would have the title. Last year my Dad began a battle with cancer by having surgery on my birthday. This year no matter what else happens to me in the last few hours of my birthday, nothing can be as horrible as last year's. This year my dad is alive to see me have this birthday. For that reason alone, this is my best birthday ever!

Thank you God for letting me keep my daddy with me. I still need him lots.

love,

jene'