Does this ever happen to you?

I can't remember if it was late at night, in the middle of the night, or early morning.  All I know is that I went to the bathroom, half asleep, and could not find the darn light switch.

"Ugh!", I said, feeling all around the dark bathroom wall, totally stressed that I was going to touch a spider or something equally hideous.  

In my mind I was thinking about how my hand is trained to find the light switch.  Out of habit, it just knows where to reach on the wall.  I never have to think about it.  Realizing that, I was in the middle of trying to clear my brain of all thought so that the habitual instinct would take over and guide my hand to the light.  Just then, Mr. T walked by.  

Since he was awake, I'm guessing it wasn't the middle of the night.

"I can't find the dumb light switch!" I exclaimed.

He calmly reached into the bathroom and turned it on.

I must have really been out of it because when he brought it up the next morning I didn't even remember it.  

We tend to chalk moments like this up to "the spice of life."  

Grammar Lesson

Last week was sort of bizarre.  

It started with an email.  Something along the lines of, "Don't forget, Steel Magnolias tryouts are coming up!"

Steel Magnolias is my favorite.  I didn't even know I was on the Community Theater's email list, which is why I took it as a sign from God that I should try out.  

So I did.

Later in the week, we received a flier from a car dealership in a town that's about an hour from where we live.  "Scratch off the center to see if you've won!"  Well, by golly, I scratched it off and it said we had won $25,000!  The only problem is that we had to drive to the dealership to "claim our prize".  We knew it was a hoax and that only one person could possibly win and that that one person probably wasn't us.  

Nonetheless, we loaded up our baby and our hearts full of dreams and started out on the road.

When we got there we discovered that we didn't win.

We were disappointed, but by no means shocked.

"Sorry you didn't win.  Here's a gift card to WalMart.  It could be worth anywhere from $5 to $200."

It was worth $5.

We figured.

While out on a walk I answered a call from the Steel Magnolias director.  "I'm sorry, but I'll be unable to cast you.  You had a good audition, but it seems you were too young for some roles and too old for other roles."

I assumed as much.

Looking back over the week, I realized that we placed glimmers of hope in things we knew would be long shots.  As it turns out, all of them were long shots.  But I'm still glad we pursued them.  I'm glad I tried out.  I had a good time and it brought me out of my comfort zone.  I'm glad we drove out of town.  It was nice to visit in the car and we took Tidytot to the park and even went to Starbucks (a real treat!).  

None of the things we hoped for worked out.  

And I don't mind.  I would rather live life knowing than wondering.  

Exclamation points, even at the end of sentences I don't like, are often so much better than question marks. 

Longing

I was visiting a dear friend the other day.  Although the subject was barely discussed, I'm aware that she would like to be married.  I don't know the plans God has, but I do know she'll make a great wife should he choose that path for her.  

Longing.

Before I was married, I longed for a husband.  After being married about three weeks, I started longing for a baby.  Now my heart looks forward to a second baby.

I've come to realize that longing is part of life.  Perfectly happy and content people are still faced with a healthy desire for more / something else / something new.  The way we manage our longing speaks volumes about our trust in God.

My friend manages her longing with such grace.  May I be more like her as she strives to be more like Christ.