One Of Those Days

Did you ever have one of those days?

I am having one today. 🙂

I overslept, which meant that I got my kids to school just in the nick of time.

When I got home, my dog Buddy had left me an unwanted, smelly “gift” to clean up. The entire time I was scolding him, he looked up at me with those innocent big brown eyes of his as if say, “Who, me?”

I logged onto my computer to see an email from my daughter that said, “PLEASE READ THIS!”

Somewhat alarmed, I opened the email to read that her field trip had been cancelled for the day, which meant that she had her Honors English class after all. Could I please bring her folder to the school?

My eyes slid over to the kitchen table, where the bright blue folder lay. Just a few minutes earlier before I took her to school, I suggested that she might want to take that with her “just in case.”

She said she wouldn’t be needing it due to the field trip and would like to conserve room in her backapck.

Sigh.

I suppose I could have refused to take the folder to her but this is her favorite class and she had no way of knowing the field trip would be postponed for a week. However, I do plan to gently remind her that she might want to take her mother’s advice from now on. 🙂

I looked at the clock, knowing I didn’t have much time before her English class began. That meant I didn’t have time to put on any makeup.

I am not a natural beauty. I have rosacea, bed-head hair, and big bags under my eyes when I wake up in the morning. It’s not a pretty sight and takes me quite awhile before I look presentable to the public.

There was no time to worry about that now, though.

I put on my favorite comfy sweatshirt jacket (which went nicely with the sweatpants I was wearing), grabbed my purse and the English folder and headed out into the cold, rainy morning. As I drove to the school, I hoped that I wouldn’t see anyone I knew.

After pulling into a parking space at the front entrance, I lifted the hood of my jacket over my head and tucked the bulky English folder under my jacket to protect it from the rain.

As I hurried to the entrance, I noticed the policeman who patrols the school walking toward me.

He looked mildly alarmed.

“Hey…what you got there?” He called out, hurrying closer.

I realized suddenly how suspicious this looked…a hooded person holding something large inside a jacket while moving purposefully toward the entrance of the school on a dark and rainy morning.

“Good morning officer!” I said in my brightest voice, pushing the hood off of my head and opening my jacket to reveal the English folder. “I’m just delivering my daughter’s folder to her.”

He glanced at the folder, then at me  before nodding and wishing me a good day.

Now my hair was wet, which only added to my fabulous look.

I made it to the front door only to hear the bell ring and see that the halls were instantly flooded with students. The secretary buzzed me inside where I joined the stream of kids on my way to deliver Julia’s folder to the main office.

If I saw one of my kids’ friends, I saw ten.

“Hi Mrs. Brown!”

“Hey Ms. Brown!”

I could not believe it.

How many times had I come to the school with my hair done,  fully made up,  not wearing sweats as I was today…and saw no one?

I delivered the folder, ran back outside to the car and turned on the radio as I left the campus and headed home.

I burst out laughing when I heard the speaker on the radio quote this verse: “This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Ps. 118:24)

You can’t tell me that our God does not have a sense of humor! 🙂

I hope this day finds you rejoicing too, despite the weather or your circumstances…because life—even on the messy days— is such  a precious gift.