Dear Reader,
I beg your forgiveness for the lack of fodder for you to read! If you’ve ever taken one of those “stress” tests (or evaluation) you might recall all the lists of antagonists to the stress you may under…like “have you had a recent move,” “job change,” “ recent death in the family…?” I remember taking one of those when my daughter was about three or four years old, and scored just ten points below the highest score possible. Not really a contest one should aim to win, but I’m special. Lately, I realized I’m at just about the same level I was back then, and am much more conscious of the stress today, so as to strategize ways to deal with it more effectively. Despite my best efforts, though, I still feel like I’m walking up the “down” escalator!
I think there are lots of you who could sing the same song I do…. “Where have all the minutes gone (to the tune of “Where have all the Flowers Gone”)? All the juggling leaves me bewildered, and when the dust settles from last storm, I find myself wondering how I could life better. It’s been a question running around in my head for some time now, and while I was ruminating on this I started to see a recurring theme. See if you don’t have the same conclusion….
Yesterday, for example, I started the day very early (5:15 AM!) looking for subbing assignments online, and trying to do some online training simultaneously for an organization I volunteer for. Click “refresh” for the first screen. Wait to see if anything comes up for two school districts. Nothing. Click “refresh” for the other school district. Nothing. Click again for the first screen, then the second. Nothing. Click on the training site. Read legal ease for Department of State regulations on Secondary School Exchanges. ( Yawn) Click school sites again. Check phone to see if the ringer is on. Continue online reading. Take the test...and fail it. Note to self: learn new information for the purpose of retention and evaluation only after chocolate intake and enough sleep! Don’t forget dinner for six tonight, with dessert. Maybe I should bake the cake now. It’s 5:45AM. Put roast in the crock pot. Go back to searching for a job.
My morning goes like this until I give up and go back to bed for an hour-and-a-half. I decide I would use the remainder of the day to get as many chores done as possible, and maybe, just maybe I’ll have time to write! Yeah. I should have gone back to studying the State Department info instead.
Ever have one of those days when you feel like the devil’s on your tail? The phrase makes me think of time I was in high school, trying to climb a set of stairs in a sea of people, and no matter what, I kept tripping. In exasperation I looked back to see my twin brother (about 6’4” at the time) grinning from ear to ear, because he’d been simply reaching out to grab my ankle at intervals…just to see if I would catch him! I was minding my own business, completely unaware of him being there, but he decided to keep me from climbing those stairs, just because he could. I think the devil is that way too. We make the decision to become more Christ-like, and that’s when the devil gets his antennae up.
Anyway, I’m so psyched about our abnormally warm weather that I take my dogs for a nice long walk, and notice on the way back home, coming into the driveway, a bunch of white bits in the street… right next to the car of our “adopted” hockey son, who’s left it parked in front of our house while going home to see his mom and dad for spring break…and now it has egg all over the side! So, instead of going to mop the kitchen after our walk, my daughter and I try like crazy to scrub the dried mess off. No key to move it if the “eggers” coma back. Rats! Then, put away heavy duty, 500 foot hose so it doesn’t kill husband’s beloved grass, and make sure to pull out at least two solar lights on the way through! I decide maybe it’s safer inside, so I attempt to frost the aforementioned cake, so I could watch the frosting take off the top. (Devil’s Food. I’m not kidding.)
A rational person would stop there, grab a coke, and go read a book. Not me. I like punishment. I kept right on going through my list of gotta-do’s until it was time to put the finishing touches on the dinner for six to be delivered to the hospital before 6PM. Again, I’m just minding my own business, trying to have a servant’s attitude about it all, when just as the alfredo sauce is coming t a boil (very critical timing here), the rest of the meal is packed, and the dogs go berserk! Three lovely young ladies would like me to partake in their fundraiser (while I’m trying to keep my nutty dogs from chewing through the door to get at them). Rescue the sauce! Then the phone rings…..
Tell me what woman alive has not had this scenario (Ok, one like it) happen to them? It’s the devil, on our tail, tripping us up, just to see if we’ll catch him. Are we gonna lose it or remain in control of ourselves? Are we gonna yell or take a deep breath instead? What comes out of you when the devil puts the squeeze on? Half the battle is recognizing that it’s happening. Then it’s part submission to God’s Holy Spirit (so you don’t slug the rude kid in the mall), and part defense. I know the next time I see what the devil’s up to, I’m gonna flick him in the nose...and then yank my tail back!
