Amor Conquista Todo

Have you ever had one of those days when everything you do seems meaningless? When everything you touch seems to generate a negative feeling? A day when King Midas would have sat down and cried?

Yesterday was like that for me. Nothing I touched turned to gold. I had lovely plans to get out and weed the flower beds while enjoying a beautiful sunny day. Instead, I spent my whole morning and early afternoon at various "thrift" venues looking for some great deals on frivolous things, such as Lucia's costume for "Twelfth Night" or wholesome, Christian values books for my children's never ending desire to read, or that one thing that I didn't know I needed until I saw it.

Don't get me wrong, I love frequenting thrift shops. But yesterday was gorgeous outside, and I needed to get out and weed. I just meant to spend a few minutes there, but one thing led to another...

Start time: 9:00 a.m
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The venues ranged from our senior class' fund-raising yard sale, to our clothing closet, to a friend dropping off two boxes of clothes, to Goodwill. Now granted, Goodwill was a time killer while I was waiting for my boys to finish up their merit badge school on the other side of town. Kevin texted me when I was almost there, saying that lunch hadn't arrived yet. So I stopped at Goodwill, killed about an hour, found nothing to purchase, then continued on to pick up my boys, to find them STILL waiting for lunch.

I looked at my watch: 1:03 p.m.

Since they had completed their classes, we opted not to wait, and bought some Chick-fil-A on the way home.

Time is now: 2:00 p.m.

After arriving home I had just enough time to get the turkey in the oven, then Ania helped me with the rest of the meal.

Time is now 3:30, too late to begin any type of yard work, so I taught Ania how to play Mille Bornes, one of the treasures I found at the yard sale earlier today.

Meanwhile, Andy is having his own problems with the phone line and the shower doors. Whatever he was attempting to do with the phone didn't work, so he rewired it all back the way it was. The shower doors, however, continued to refuse to be put back the way they were before he took them down to recaulk them.

When the turkey was done we all gathered around the table; our family and the family of my friend who dropped off the boxes of clothes.

Then it was back to the puzzle of the shower doors. Andy and I spent over an hour trying everything we could think of, but nothing could coax those doors back together. We finally waved the white flag of surrender and went to bed.

As I laid there in the darkness and recollected my day, I realized that I had accomplished nothing. Nothing I put my hand to amounted to anything. Nothing except.....

~ I was able to love our seniors and support their fundraiser.
~ I was able to give my friend's child a ride home from the yard sale to save her a trip.
~ I was able to treat my two sons to lunch because their lunch never showed up at scouts.
~ I was able to share a new card game with Ania and enjoy her company.
~ I was able to extend a dinner invitation to some friends that we haven't had over in a long time.
~ I was able to spend some shoulder-to-shoulder time with Andy, working together to solve an unsolvable puzzle. The key word there is "together."

It seems to me that yesterday wasn't such a waste after all. God knew what He wanted me to accomplish, and it didn't have anything to do with problems and solutions. Rather it had everything to do with finding opportunities to love my neighbor and then doing it.

 In that light, yesterday was a victorious day, conquered by love!