peace

it all started on my way to work. i was minding my own business, driving to work when i got a flat about a mile away from home. so i did what any smart, independent, creative and capable 30-year-old career woman would do. i called my dad and asked him to come help me since i didn't even know if i had all the parts to my car's jack.

it was okay, though. he was free to come help me and set out for my car right away. my dad is a good man that has life wounds that get in the way of him being able to be fatherly, so when God presents a situation where, by a little humbling of myself, i can let dad be a hero i'm pretty happy to do so. we get a bonding situation and he gets to be the most important person in my day.

while i was waiting for dad a (*very*) lovely man from a nearby construction crew came and changed my tire. i had a spare, one of those little doughnut things that won't let you drive more than 35mph on it. when my dad got there i figured we should just go buy me a new set of tires (they're all bald, apparently...which explains the flat) but he said we should do it on saturday and we can go to the tire shop where he has an account. good deal since i'm broke from my trip. i can pay it off in a couple chunks. so he drives of with my promise to call him tonight to work out the details.

after a quick call to work i take off again. about two miles later my spare goes flat. my positive attitude got much smaller and sheena said bad words (nottice i stated that last part in third person so as to remove myself from the guilt of the offence). from there i caught a bus, spending my last $1.50, and a few stops later 27 kindergarteners got on my bus.

the day got stranger from there. almost all my calls were really complicated, and i was only one of two people on the latin american bookings line, with all the other latin agents either in europe or brazil. then, about 45 minutes before the end of the day all the phones went dead for about 3 minutes. this is not good for a call center.

the guy that sits across from me had someone on the line that was angry because she said we'd disconnected her before. he assured her that he wouldn't put her on hold, but he'd put his headset on the desk while he got a supervisor to help him accommodate her (unreasonable) request. it was while his headset was on his desk the phone lines went out. i got her next and when i tried to transfer her back to him the phone system, which was still having some weird problem, dropped her call.

after work i went down to my church to wait for candice to pick me up. it gave me time to think about my day. it was nutty, sure, but life is nutty. that's what makes it so great. it's the leaps, hurdles, adventures and obstacles that make it great. to have gotten through a day like today, jet-lagged though i still am, and be able to walk through downtown and still be sane enough to enjoy the autumn colors in the park blocks or sing 'meet virginia' at the top of our lungs in candice's car is testament to the faithful love of God in my life that grounds me in the 'peace that passes understanding guarding my heart and mind'.

life will always rage around me, but God is my peace and (as psalm 23 says) He lets me rest in a peaceful place and restores my soul.