PrayingWithMyFingers

Dear God,

The Sunday packing for Tallahassee proved to be more of a challenge than I anticipated.  I have been so busy trying to get back to my independent, controlling self that I failed to take help that was offered at different points by different friends and now I see it could have all worked better if only I had been willing to allow myself to receive more help from others.

About three hours into my five hour drive, I realized I had left all my shirts and blouses on my bed.  While packing the car, I had hung my suits on one side while I packed the interior of the back seat planning to later hang my blouses on the opposite side.  But, my memory failed me and I completely forgot to retrieve them from the bedroom.  Thus began my “I can’t believe I forgot the blouses,” odyssey.

My first thought was to call my daughter, April, because she has a key to the house but Ft. Lauderdale is a three-hour drive, and I knew she couldn’t do it because of school.  Then I remembered that April’s Godmother, my friend Vikki, also has keys.  Thinking it was a definite long-shot, I called and asked her if she would consider driving the two hours from her house to mine to pack and ship my blouses to Tallahassee.

She agreed to drive over Monday from Orlando after dropping a friend off at the airport (making it a three-hour drive), and to get the clothes to UPS for delivery by Tuesday or Wednesday depending on her timing.  We discussed the keys and, I assured her that if she had two keys she would be able to get into the house.

Late afternoon today, Monday, Vikki called and she was at my house but the keys didn’t work.  I couldn’t believe it!!!  I felt like I had no choice but to call a locksmith and see if we could get her into the house.  The locksmith needed identification faxed to him before he would agree to go to my house and let someone else in.  Four failed faxes later, I scanned and emailed a copy of my driver’s license to him and he went to the house.

In the meantime, my boss offered to put my blouses on an airplane on Wednesday (his wife is flying in) if Vikki didn’t get them shipped today.  Fortunately, all went well from that point and the blouses were shipped and should arrive sometime tomorrow.

Wow!  What a lot of time and energy was required to resolve the problem.  At the time of deciding to call a locksmith I felt like I didn’t have any choice but, in fact, I did have choices.  I could have gone shopping for new blouses; I could have waited until the weekend and driven home to get the blouses myself.  The truth is I didn’t want to spend my time shopping, buying clothes I don’t want or to drive home on the weekend.  In some way, I felt like I was “wasting” money by paying for the locksmith but why is it wasteful to use money to make my life easier?  It is not.  I realize that I am somehow conditioned to think in terms of what I obtain materially as a good use of my money when in fact, it is just a medium of exchange.

What my, “I can’t believe I forgot the blouses,” odyssey has shown me is how pervasive Your Light is in the world in the people around me. Once again help and kindness abounded.  Imagine a friend so generous to spend the bulk of her day driving five hours (seven including her return home) just to help me and then waiting for a locksmith after arriving.  Would I have done the same?  I sure hope I would have.  Imagine my wonderful boss offering to fly my blouses to Tallahassee – a certain inconvenience for his wife who I know would have been happy to help.  Imagine a locksmith changing his schedule to help with my unexpected situation.  Imagine Your perfect timing and how everything works out according to Your plan and that no matter what happens You are there to show me the way.  Imagine life without Your tender Love, Protection and Guiding Light.  I can’t and I don’t want to!!!