"Unlucky" Friday?

I had to check my calendar on Friday to make sure it wasn't the 13th...

I had a heck of a lot to do on Friday afternoon (we close at 1 on a Friday, and then rush off to do the shopping, clean the house etc before the weekend, and Sabbath). First stop, the optometrist in town, to pick up my contact lenses after last week's eye test. Next stop was to be the mall, a little way out of town, and kinda becoming a town all in itself!

One problem. Car wouldn't leave the optometrist's parking lot. It stalled, then chugged, then hurr-hurred, then simply gave up. Not a good place to do so - I was blocking traffic in a big way, and was soon surrounded by the local "bergies" (homeless hang-around blokes), collectively smelling stronger than the nearby bottle store, and all eager to push the car in return for a few bucks. The parking lot security guy turned up though and managed to chase off a few, except for one guy who just wouldn't go.... Yet still the car stayed put. We pushed it into a parking place and I went off to find a solution to the problem - ie, do my shopping nearby, think through options and pray....

Back at the car half an hour later, it started first time! Relief, but still had to pay off one bergie with 2 bucks before he'd leave, or let me leave. We jerked on up the hill and limped home (the car needs a serious service - still haven't gotten it done, and suspect the fuel filter is very dirty). Missed out on getting a few planned items at the mall, like a new watch battery. But also avoided the temptation of spending money I don't have on a very low-priced, "proper" digital camera to replace the cheap one that died last week.

Episode 1 complete.

After 8 years of a yukky stained toilet, I had decided to invest in an extra-strong 3-in-one product that had advertised itself "able to get rid of stubborn stains". And boy did it work! ALL those stains are GONE! (Moral of the story - use products designed to clean where they're supposed to, and not just the nearest bottle of whatever's lying around) I can't stop looking into the toilet to admire it's shiny whiteness. But in the process of scrubbing, a tiny drop of the very caustic cleaner ended up in my eye. I washed it out immediately, but developed a blister-like swelling on my eyeball, very painful. It being late on a Friday, and the car being dodgy, I didn't "seek medical advice" as the bottle of cleaner indicated, but rather washed it thoroughly with cold water, then lay down to rest for an hour with my eyes closed. By morning, the swelling was down and the pain was gone. But I missed out on doing a good few things I had to do on Friday afternoon as a result.

Episode 2 complete.

I'm tempted to cry out "why me Lord" on days like this. Why all the trouble and strife? Why one thing on top of another? Why not let me get everything done I need to do without worry or stress over things I didn't plan for? Why not just give me one hassle at a time instead of more than one? I could deal with that!

But I'm not tempted enough to actually cry out.

Why? Because God has a plan. He sees the big picture. I'm just muddling around here like an ant in a potplant, not always realizing there are larger things out there than my little world. And God had a plan when these things happened too. Perhaps I wasn't meant to go anywhere near the mall for a reason He only knows, and I will only find out in heaven one day. Maybe my planned afternoon was so full of rushing around that I would have been worn out and depleted by the time Sabbath arrived. I would not have had the energy to spend time with my son, but would have been too tired to talk and listen.

So on "bad" days like this, I'm content in knowing God's in control, even when I've lost it, when my little agenda is smashed to bits. I rest in Him and in knowing He will work all things together for my eventual good, even if it's not the immediate good that I thought I needed.