I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. Psalm 3:5 (NIV)
Not every day is an excellent day. Some days are rough. Tuesday was particularly hard coming on the heels of an excellent day. In all the excitement the night before, I got my shower late and went to bed with my hair wet so that morning, not even good weather could make it look right. I also forgot to take my anti-inflammatory medicine so my joints were achy and sore. When I went out to feed the horses, I discovered Lucy with a dead rabbit. By the time I got the shovel, she had ripped its back end open and its insides were falling out. My efforts to get the rabbit from Lucy caught Cory’s interest which made Lucy even more intent on keeping it. By the time I got the rabbit on the shovel, it was mangled. We used to be able to just throw dead animals over our north fence because no one lived there, but the property is being developed. That meant I had to walk it across the pasture and dump it over that fence. Trucker, always curious, wanted to know if I was bringing him a treat. As I wrestled with the gate, the shovel and balancing the rabbit, he knocked it off and I had to scoop it back up again. That all happened before 7:00, and it was downhill from there. When I pulled into our parking lot, late, I saw the homeless woman who often walks around our building. Once, her mother came into our office looking for her and said that no matter how hard she tries, her daughter will not come home or accept help. The broken anquish of that mother remains with me still. As I gathered my belongings out of my car, including my extra large study Bible, I felt like I should speak to her and see if she needed anything. I followed her, greeted her and asked about her day. And in return, was given a lecture about my rudeness in approaching her without an invitation and the declaration that I offended her. I apologized and instead of leaving with a feel good attitude about what I had done, slunk away humbled. The rest of the day was one meeting after another, including a lunch meeting which I do not agree with. It is either lunch or work, but not a working lunch! In my opinion, the two are not compatible! By evening, I wanted to lie down and go to sleep, but had dinner to prepare and a class that I was not prepared for to teach. It was 11:00 before I finally made it to bed, weary, sad and discouraged. The opposite of the evening before. But, despite the hard day, I could say just as I had the night before that I knew the One in control, knew it was all in His Hands and slept peacefully knowing that whatever might come the following day, He would be with me through it all.
That does sound like a rough day – but most days aren't like that, are they? And days like that make us appreciate the truly excellent days!
I guess that's one homeless person to leave alone. The ones who want help or to talk usually come to you!
Tomorrow is always another day. God lets you have a fresh one every 24 hours!