If the above statement is true, then the opposite must be true, too. I can offer some evidence for that because yesterday I felt like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. But it started off so good! I woke up (that’s good). The weather was fantastic (also good!). I had some work scheduled (totally good!).
Before heading off to do said work, delivering for Amazon, I had a few hours to “putter,” as my mom would say. So I took the dogs to the dog park. We had a great ol’ time. I even spent entirely too much attention on a little slug we found.
I even had time for a short run before having to leave for Amazon.
Great morning, right? My day wasn’t unravelling at all! And I hadn’t even said one prayer yet. Maybe that famous quote is just an amusing tale. Maybe it’s just something people say because it sounds good. Maybe? Maybe not!
When I left for Amazon was the beginning of the unravelling. Most of the deliveries went fine until the last few. I had about 10 in an apartment complex, one that was set up with lockers for deliveries. I like lockers because the process is organized… usually. The Amazon app was having issues because of a few things which I won’t get into, so at the end of the 10 deliveries my screen was not showing the info it should’ve been. On top of that, I had one package to return to the warehouse because it was mislabeled. Not a terrible thing, but a nuisance for sure.
I returned that package and headed home. However, my Amazon app was still stuck on that wrong screen. No biggy, I thought.
Well, that screen made things more messy when I decided to pick up deliveries later in the day. The shift was 330pm to 430pm and routed me to downtown, tossing me into Nashville traffic on a horrifically high-volume day. I knew getting home would be a nightmare but I signed up for it, so I shrugged my shoulders and drove on. Traveling on the interstate towards downtown, I noticed the folks headed in the other direction were backed up for miles because of a wreck. Police everywhere. Lanes blocked. Of course, this was the very route I’d be taking to get home, so the high-volume I mentioned was compounded by less lanes. Great.
I had 3 addresses to deliver to, one of which was to a government building. Security had me sit and wait for a “supervisor” to let me up to the 8th floor. Ten minutes of sitting and then I was told I can’t go up. Meanwhile it’s already 445pm (15 minutes past when I was scheduled to finish), and I still had another delivery to do.
The last delivery went OK then I did my best to weave back to the warehouse to return the rejected government package. It took almost an hour to go 10 miles! But I managed to snag a 5pm to 630pm shift so I took some solace knowing I was still “on the clock.”
Once at the warehouse, the manager checked me in and so everything was returning to normal, or so I thought.
Later I returned home, mentally exhausted and needing to decompress from all the day had brought me. Come to find out, the 2.5 hours of work was not registered by Amazon. What!? I sat in an hour and a half of traffic, delivered packages and returned one, and none of it was recorded? I was on the verge of exploding about this. How am I supposed enjoy watching The Bachelorette– I mean, playoff hockey– now?
So that’s pretty much how my day went. Lots of detours, literally and figuratively, and I didn’t even pray until the very end of the day… when I was at the end of my rope and needed God to shoulder my burden, to soften hearts, to bring about justice. I think it would’ve been much better to start my day with prayer, not end it with prayer. Or better yet, start and end my day with prayer, and do it all the time in between, also. Isn’t that how one hems, anyway? Sewing all around the garment, not just on one side and the other.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-8
Now it’s the morning of the next day, issue still unresolved and the same anxiety is in my heart. Will Amazon treat me fairly? Will I be compensated for my work? At this point I don’t know. But I can say this and be sure about it, I don’t want today to go like yesterday did. So as soon as I post this, I’m bowing my head to start sewing prayers to my day.
[check out the follow up to this story here]
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 