I should be freaking out, but I'm not... because God is merciful!
It all started yesterday afternoon, on the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux. I had just completed a novena, and I have some friends whose lives have been drastically changed through the prayers of St. Therese! I was by no means expecting this, but had certainly been begging for an awareness of God's will in my life and the strength and humility to obey. And then, in the middle of the afternoon, BAM!!! Something unexpected. Something beautiful, but wrapped up in something I did not want. And, sadly enough, I simply could not handle it. I got MAD. I yelled. I punched pillows and threw them at my sofa. I sent a dear friend ridiculous text messages about my "glass case of emotion." Then, I had something fried and chocolate, and went to play with a baby, which always makes me feel better.
(MERCIFUL moments in this paragraph: I was already planning to go to the Evansville Fall Festival, which has several blocks of food booths selling any strange food imaginable -- many fried, and lots of chocolate -- before going to baby-sit the beautiful children I play with every Monday evening. So, if there is a night for things to crash and burn, Monday is a good option, because it has built-in baby therapy. Also, I live with an awesome friend who makes me stop throwing pillows and drives me to the fall festival; I have another awesome friend who deals well with insane text messages and reminds me that letting emotion rule my life is not helpful... while still understanding the Anchorman reference. HELLO... ABUNDANT MERCY, flowing in my life!! Not to mention the event that triggered this entire response -- an event that I knew was full of beauty, even if wrapped in intense drama.)
When I got home after baby-sitting, I was already stressed out because of a big to-do list for the next day. I was behind in my grading and planning (I'd been away all weekend for a wedding out-of-state), and I had planned a really awesome, fun, educational, food-themed class for my 8th graders... which required a lot of prep work and baking. I had also decided to invite a group of friends over the next day for a dinner and blessing of my house, which meant finalizing the menu, double checking supplies, and cleaning. A few hours later, it was late, but everything was ready to go (thanks to a lot of help from my wonderful roommate!). The kitchen sink was a little slow to drain, but not a huge deal. I even had laundry going in the basement. The washer had seemed to have some build-up, so I was cleaning it with a load of hot water and bleach to take care of the simple problem. My mood hadn't improved much, but I felt accomplished enough to go to bed, even if only to end the day.
We sat down in the living room to do night prayer... precisely what I needed to get back on track after this evening of emotion and complaining.
Prayer was beautiful, and we ended with our traditional Salve Regina -- or, rather, half the Salve Regina. We were interrupted by a persistent gurgling sound from the kitchen sink as the washer drained. I ran downstairs to see water gushing out of the washer drain pipe, down the side of the washer, all over the raised wooden platform my appliances rest on, all over the floor... it was a mess!! I shut off the main water supply to the house (easily accessible and the one major supply that I knew the location without question -- MERCY!!) as I whimpered around, wanting to cry but not having the tears. Towels... towels... towels... dehumidifier... a few fans... got everything mostly cleaned up. We did an "experiment" and slowly turned on water upstairs, only to confirm the fact that any water in the house would cause this particular pipe drain to overflow.
Brief pause for overwhelming list of MERCY in this section:
- Two people were home, which meant (a) moral/emotional support, (b) physical help, (c) ability to "tag-team" and effectively run said experiment, (d) SOMEONE was home to catch this happening, (e) two brains are better than one to judge the situation and decide on a plan of action.
- Presence of dehumidifier and extra fans
- This could have been SO MUCH WORSE!
- Most of my clothes were in the dryer, not overflowing all over the floor that was now covered in water and diluted bleach
- My basement smells really clean! :)
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
This morning, I got up, rolled out of bed, threw on clothes, grabbed my toothbrush, and went to school again. I walked into my principal's office, explained the situation, and went down to my classroom to get sub plans ready. Before I could even finish typing them out, my sub had arrived -- and she had been my sub when I left for the wedding last week, so she had a good idea of what was going on.
In the meantime, I called the plumber -- a laminated card was attached to the water shut-off (Hello! MERCY!) -- who arrived ON TIME, helpful, nice, and are currently fixing everything.
...kinda puts the whole "St. Therese, this is NOT how I wanted this to happen" whiny attitude into perspective, right? Yeah... it's MERCY!!
Lord, help me to be open to whatever You present in my life, however You choose to give it. Give me the grace to become aware of the ways You are working in my life, for the good of Your divine will.
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!
Anna, I recently, too, had similar string of events that revealed God's providence in little ways. We are often surprised by grace, especially when we are seeking Him. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete