And the walls came tumblin' down

The pile of unfinished blog posts is growing steadily... so many things to write about... so many ideas floating... and yet, fear continues to grip me enough that they have not been organized into a book, nor a devotional... two of which are on my goal list of 2012... which then leads me to another random thought that I never finished my blog post on goal-setting!  (Or why fear is the one thing I am wanting to leave behind in 2011!) 

I suppose its time I just start churning out some thoughts and see where they take me.  After all, isn't it my quote that has been thrown all over my previous blog entries, (say with a sarcastic voice,) "After all, God can't steer a parked car!"

I had a fantastic morning and it went nothing like I planned.  I dawdled too long at home trying to short-order cook four different breakfast requests.  I got to the gym late hoping to get just a short workout in.  Short because the beginning of a New Year is my least-favorite time to work out in a gym.  Not so much the other members...although their sweaty bodies all over weight equipment is a bit much (we tenured members are already versed in wiping down the equipment after use and quite frankly, most of the people at 9:30 are in a class or aren't benching enough to sweat.) 

I detest the gym in January because of the kids' club; dozens of snot-filled, runny-nose, crying toddlers who have no idea why, oh why, after Santa Claus has left and the sugar cookies have gone away, must they be locked into this room with other screaming children.  Because mom or dad needs to work off her holiday weight and make some new resolution!  (Now, to you who have joined the gym recently... don't stop; get healthy....get fit... keep at it.... your kids will get used to the new routine and eventually the non-stop crying will sound like white noise.)  In the meantime, I feel like I'm dropping my kids off in a first-world orphanage, the ratios are COMPLETELY over the limit and its just plain germ-infested chaos in there.  Needless to say, my workouts are short until mid-February when the gym returns to its normal state of occupancy. 

(Hey, I was upfront when I told you this was free therapy for me...so I'm getting to my point...right now, I'm venting!  But if you are laughing...then I'm happy too!)  Keep going!

At the gym, I had a great talk with a friend, followed by a trip to Trader Joe's with my toddler.  I already posted this on Facebook...but you know the end-cap displays in a store?  Why do they stack those with things that will not withstand a cart TAPPING into them?  I would fully expect damage if a display was rammed by a crazy 8 year old boy who was in charge of the grocery cart, (DISCLAIMER: the characters in this story are purely fictional, but may have been inspired by real life events) but this was my cart driving and just a little tap into the display to avoid another cart.  Well....

128 packages of Seaweed snacks later.... oh yeah, we knocked half of the display down.  It was like they fell in slow-motion... a deck of cards falling at the speed of feathers...down...down...down they all went.  Did I mention it was a madhouse in there because there is an eensy chance of snow in the forecast on MONDAY?  Which as you know in Seattle means a shutdown with possible starvation.  :)  Well... all of this to say, it was still a great day.  My toddler and I had fun picking up the seaweed with him singing "Clean up, Clean up..everybody everywhere" (rather loudly) and lots of patrons smiling on from their place in line.  Laughable.  Could have been cryable...but it was laughable.

Why?  Call it perspective.  Call it "embracing what you cannot control" or call it having some Jesus in your life....but you can either fight the current of life...or learn how to jump in and just float down it.  You see:

• I woke up and was given life today.  Some people didn't.
• I have a healthy and vibrant family with all of their faculties.  Some people don't.
• Without 7 weeks of planning...it worked out that one of my best friends ended up at the gym at the same time and we had a great time in fellowship...laughing and sweating simulatenously (well, I AM a multi-tasker!)  She used 3 syllable words... a highlight I don't always get in my days filled with three small children.  Some people go all day without a visit from a friend.
• Realizing my toddler is giving up naps, I seized the opportunity to get another errand done.  Now, I knocked over a KING-SIZED display... probably comforting dozens of shoppers who have felt ackward if they have knocked something over (because trust me, this one trumped them all) AND got to teach my toddler about physics.  (And while most people wouldn't want this experience... I think how lucky I am to have Jesus in my heart which was about the ONLY thing that made me giggle instead of cry in this situation.)

I hope my verbal vomit of my day's events enlightened you.  I am the first one to tell people that some blogs just don't interest me... blah...blah...blah....and here I am...crossing THAT LINE in the sand too...and using my entry to talk about my day's events as if they are so important. 

I hope you get the meaning of this entry... its not about my day at the gym or the toddler who won't nap...its bigger.  It's learning that God plants divine opportunities in our life ahead of time...for us, they are either treasures or road-side bombs, depending on how we look at them.  I've sure had dozens of days in which I have viewed my distractions, interruptions or detours as "bombs," letting them blow up my day, destroy my mood and infect those around me. 

But today... I take comfort in knowing that these were all discovered treasures.  I hope that you are able to take a step back and see your own "walls of seaweed."  When they come tumblin down, you can chew the manager's head off about why they would put a delicate food item on an end cap OR you can laugh and teach dozens around you about perspective.