My day today...

(Note: the song on this blog needs to play while you read this. It will make sense in a minute.)

Did you ever have one of those days? One of those days when nothing seems to go right? You try to make your morning coffee and you cant because you are out of Coffee filters. Then while dressing, you cant find a mate to the shoes you want to wear and so you decide to wear another pair and cant find the mate to that one? Its like someone took one of your shoes of every pair?!

You decide to ditch the coffee and have some cearl, only to realize that you're out of milk! Didn't I just buy 2 Gallon Jugs a couple of days ago? And you don't find the magic decoder ring in your cearl box. Only cearl.

You go outside and realize that you accidentally locked yourself out! With your keys inside. How was that possible??? When it takes a key to lock the door?

You finally crawl through a window that is unlocked and skin the skin off your arms and legs so bad and fall on with a thud.

Then your well behaved dog who is house trained, and has been for 10 years, decides this is the day that he doesn't want to be house trained and leaves a nice present for you, right on the freshly shampooed carpet.

You finally find your keys and are headed to work, or an important appointment, and you look down and you are almost out of gas. In fact the Needle is Past E. and then you feel that old familiar 'chug chug" feeling of your car, slurping down the last ounces of gas while you're eyes frantically search for a gas sign and fortunately coast to a gas station by the skin of your teeth!

Later.... you realize you had missed an important dental appt , and your dentist informs you it will be another 4-6 weeks before you can get in.

You miss your exit and have to circle a mile to get back to the turn off you intended to take.

A person you've been counting on for an all important event calls to back out at the last minute and you have no one to fill in and this is going to lead to many disappointed and angry parents.

For some reason, the past two weeks, earth worms have taken up residence in your driveway and your home every time it rains, and you have no idea why and find a half dozen of them every day in your home in different rooms? Even the exterminator has never seen anything like it!

Then the school calls and your child is sick with the stomach flu and you have to pick them up, you watch helplessly as they "visit" the bathroom and throw up every 15 minutes. Your baby is sick as a dog, and you know you're next.

You run out to get your child some Pedilyte and Tylenol and something for dinner you think, can this day honestly get any worse???.......
and then you see him.
The homeless man standing on the street corner off the interstate. Ratty clothes and a backpack at his feet. The cardboard sign is scrawled with the words "Hungry Traveler." His skin is dark from the brutal sun and his beard is wild and wooly. You hit the power door lock button and try to not make eye contact.

Suddenly while sitting there in the awkward moments waiting for the light to change, you hear a song on the Christian radio station that says "I was sure by now, God, that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away........ stepped in and saved the day. I barely hear You whisper through the rain, "I'm with you".... and I'll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands , for You are who you are, no matter where I am . And every tear I've cried, You hold in your hand............... You never left my side and though my heart is torn....... I will praise You in this storm.

and then you feel his eyes on you. and you look over at him, and he seems grateful that you acknowledged him with eye contact, and you reach down and pull a $5.00 bill out of your purse, the change from the last store you went to, and you roll down your window and motion for him and his Eyes light up! Crystal Blue eyes and he smiles the biggest smile and takes it gently from you and says "thank you Ma'am" and you honestly can see, that he is a nice guy. Maybe not the smartest, but he is a person, a human being, and who knows what his story is.?

Who knows what happened to him.? Maybe its his fault, maybe he had a good family and refused to follow the rules? Maybe he had it bad, maybe his dad beat him and he ran away. Or maybe he lost his mind in Vietnam. Maybe life just disappointed him one day at a time, and he didn't have any family and he slowly slipped down and down and down.
Something that could happen to any of us. And suddenly you wished you had more to give him.
And you start to sing along "I will Praise you in this storm.. I will lift my hand.."and watch him in your rear view mirror walking quickly through the tall grass off the interstate towards the Taco Bell across the street. and you realize that even your worst day.. you have a warm bed, and a family. and you wipe one tear from the corner of your eye, thankful for the blessings God has given you. And glad that you could lift someones day even a tiny bit and make it just a bit better for them. Because we are all connected. We all could be him. We all fall short of Gods glory. And you pray that you will never become one of those Cold and Timid Souls who only serve themselves and care nothing of those hurting around them. and you wonder. Maybe he was an angel and God was testing you?
and then, I praised him in this storm.