I give consent

have you ever felt as though you were stuck in a bad scenario? one that might be used in a short video series displayed at a conference? the lengths of these real life scenarios may vary, but if you've had the feeling, you know what I mean. I experienced one this morning that was so scripted, I knew I had become an actress/victim almost immediately... but who said I gave consent? I probably wasn't the best candidate for "them" to sneak up on because I recognized it right away. I didn't discover any hidden cameras, but people all seemed to walking in a choreographed rythem. looking back, I think the title was "learning how to stay focused on the positive while everything else is falling a apart" or "how to trust that the Lord has a plan when things aren't playing out how we expected" or simply "a series if mishaps." I apologize for the length, but here it goes:

before "Scene 1" I woke up early for a change, with plenty of time for my morning routine. it almost felt too good to be true. by the time i was in my car and just about to my bus stop (15 minutes from my home), I decided to check my phone. to my surprise and frustration, the phone had been forgotten. i quickly remembered where i left it, and decided to turn back for it. not realizing that traffic goes both ways, i got home about the time I should arrive at work. from this point on, i was in panic/guilt mode for being so late. I also had to round up quarters at home since i would be driving downtown, and paying for parking. after the worst traffic I had ever seen on the freeway, and being next to a cop, I finally made it to the inner-city 45 minutes later. treating myself to the expensive parking garage for being so late, another strange thing took place: the garage was not allowing daily parking. i mean, what? when does that happen? i was acutally laughing at this point, trying to understand the overall lesson the Lord was trying to teach me. (are we on scene 3, 4? I lost count!) by the time i reached the gravel parking lot several blocks away, i realized that i had taken every item out of my backpack since I was planning to walk in from the garage... shoot! after re-packing, paying, and walking very briskly, I made it to the crosswalk just in time for the flashing red hand, of course. yes Lord, I know how to be patient! some unfortunate co-worker of mine was walking near me and asked how i was doing... yes, he got a breif re-cap of my long cummute in... but at least I laughed while sharing! it had been 2 hours since I woke up at this point. think of all I could have accomplished? but the Lord numbers my steps and has by best interest at heart. i finally felt the "production" had ended as i transitioned into a pretty normal day (besides learning of a whole in my pants). i began jotting down thoughts and appreciating my sense of humor and positive outlook on the scene in which I had the starring role. I've always wanted to be in actress in a short video... but wait, a show is never complete without an encore! on my way to a meeting, my elevator stopped on the 4th floor, and the elevators began opening and closing repeatedly... not taking us any further. i got out of the elevator with the assurance that I would get stuck in it as the final straw. I'm sad to say that the scene/act/play/story ends there... as the point had definitely been made, thank you to the Director! I wish the crew had at least told me the title, but they probably ran off since they had no consent.

I still don't know what God's exact reason was for all of this, but consequently, I learned a quality life lesson from my little debut: The Lord has chosen me, not just for today, but forever.