7:20 A.M. Alarm goes off. Husband gets ready for radio show. Snuggle in deeper under covers. I LOVE this weather.
7:30 A.M. Husband wakes me up to tell me I set the clock ten minutes ahead and robbed him of 1/6 of an hour of sleep. I burrow down even more.
7:40 A.M. Refuse to get out of bed on my "sleeping in" morning even though my husband and our 3 four-legged babies are making it impossible to sleep.
8:00 A.M. Dogs back asleep; husband gone. I open the windows, grab a book, and go back to bed. I really really love this weather.
8:10 A.M. First call. Kase is in Atlanta and headed back here. He left the sober living house we worked so hard to get him into and now wants somewhere to go. I make a few calls.
8:30 A.M. Go back to the bed once more with my book. My dogs must sense what's coming because for the first time ever they don't try to get on my bed.
8:35 A.M. Phone rings again. I look at my dogs strangely. Raleigh has been given an eviction notice. he says it's because the landlord's daughter is moving back to town and is moving in. Raleigh has a 6-month lease so I could fight the three-month early lease termination but he is in violation of the lease anyway by the constant traffic in and out of his house. Its proximity to the local soup kitchen makes it the hangout for a lot of homeless and drug traffic. Despite our repeated conversations about this, it hasn't changed. He was unable to maintain control before his stroke, now he is a prime target for abuse. I make some more calls.
9:15 A.M. I make the bed up. Snuggling under the covers with a book has lost its appeal.
9:30 A.M. I tell myself I'm not going to clean my house on my rare day off.
9:35 A.M. I clean my house.
11:00 A.M. Three calls, two emails. All work-related. For fun, I check Facebook and Yahoo Top Stories. Share a link to a controversial cheer routine with my oldest daughter.
11:30 A.M. Realize I haven't eaten. Eat a powdered sugar 4-pack of mini-donuts and a snack size bag of Ranch Doritos. Top it off with a Coke. Decide mini and snack sizes of anything don't count calorie-wise.
12:00 P.M. Visit an ailing church member.
1:00 P.M. Make the church bank deposit.
1:30 P.M. Get my oil changed for advertised price of $21.99. Listen to the guy try his hardest to raise my total. Tune out the praises of some kind of super oil while playing Phrase Wheel on my phone. Pay $21.99.
2:00 P.M. Head to library. Kase starts blowing up my phone. He thinks he "might have made a mistake" by leaving the home. I think he's right. Not sure what to do. He won't make it on the streets.
2:20 P.M. Informed that I've been nominated to be President of the Friends of the Library board. Flattered since I've never even been to a local Friends meeting. I have the experience and enthusiasm, but do I have the time? I know the answer to this, yet that inner 20-yr-old feels a strange sense of validation at this prospect. Once again, not sure what to do.
3:00 P.M. Phone discussion of rank & review procedures for Thursday's council meeting. Remember the prophetic words a friend told me right before I even knew what my ministry was: I'll be praying for you as you navigate the lines between church and state. Wonder if she's still praying.
3:15 P.M. Consider driving to Mobile for a piece of crabmeat-stuffed salmon I saw one time at a Publix. Decide the 2-hour round trip in rush-hour traffic might not be worth it. Head to the Pascagoula Wal-Mart instead.
4:00 P.M. Stroll leisurely through the aisles. Realize I'm hungry and move faster. Discover a new Oreo flavor: Brownie Batter. Try to be polite by offering everyone in the checkout line a free sample of these new cookies. They decline. I eat their share. Cashier looks puzzled as she scans half-empty bag. I shrug my shoulders.
5:00 P.M. Became THAT PERSON in line. The one who left her money in the car. The oil change guy, apparently expecting a higher total than 21.99, didn't have change for a hundred dollar bill so I swiped my debit card instead and tucked the bill into my bag. A bag which I had no use for in Wal-Mart. At least until it was time to pay. Red-faced and apologizing, I rushed to my car and retrieved the cash. At least I worked off those cookies.
5:10-5:35 P.M. Talked to husband on way home. Shared the day's phone calls with each other. As of that very moment, we had two people needing a bed somewhere for tonight, two needing to come in for counseling this week, two needing a new place to live, one who needed a gas deposit, another who needed a ride to the next county, one who needed a ride to the doctor Friday, and three who needed some groceries. We will be able to help most of them.
5:45 P.M. Started on dinner while my husband unloaded the groceries. Danced around the kitchen a few times. HE loves this weather too.
6:00 P.M. Sat down to a scrumptious meal of salmon with a crawfish pepperjack cream sauce over pasta and broccoli (no recipe..cooking has become a healthy outlet for me even if the recipes aren't so healthy) and garlic butter rolls. I love the Norman Rockwell feeling of eating at the table, dogs perched at our feet. And at 6 o'clock! The quintessential dinner time.
6:30 P.M. We decided to ditch the dishwashing and head outside. Enjoyed the weather and each other for about twenty minutes until the mosquitos started enjoying me a little too much. Went back in.
7:00-10:00 P.M. The evening has been quiet, save for a phone call or two and a few texts. Tomorrow we have our homeless feedings and we are delivering sacks of groceries and checking on new housing options. It'll be a busy day.
Not at all like today, my day off!
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
(1 Thessalonians 5: 14-18)
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