On Monday morning, bright and early I was headed up to Dallas to go to our corporate office for some meetings. I was having “one of those mornings”. I did not get to work out because someone (which is me) booked a 7:30 am flight! I called an Uber and when I got in the car I realized I forgot my necklace on the counter. Dang. I was slightly perturbed that I was B 29 instead of A 1-15 on Southwest. Then when I got to the airport, I realize that I had a huge-ass hole in the side of my skirt and my undies were free to be seen by all! Free show!! I was finding myself grumbling about the most stupid crap where now as I write this, I am laughing at how ridiculous I was that morning.
Anyway, here is where God steps in and smacks me ion the side of my the head…again. For like the 1039483287th time.
After I changed my skirt, I am at the gate and someone I haven’t seen for a while flags me down…we start chit-chatting. I can tell that he is just sad. He shares with me the fact that he’s been going through a very long divorce and now he is heading back home so he can go help take care of his father because he is very very ill…near the end of his life in hospice. I gave him a hug and he walked away.
When he left to go to his gate, I prayed for him and his family.
Not 5 minutes later, I got a text from another friend of mine telling me that he was heading to Oklahoma because his father had just passed away in the night.
Dammit…go hug your dad if he is around!!
And here I was bitching about my “first world problems” that were now ridiculous and meaningless. Ok God, I get it.
Point is this: We get caught up in our own little worlds. We worry about shit that just doesn’t freakin matter while there are people all around us suffering with REAL issues. Way worse than not getting A1-15 on Southwest. I think that sometimes, God gives us reminders of how important it is to just remain in Him. Small and big stuff…He is there with us. If we acknowledge Him.
I have learned through the years that no matter what we THINK we are suffering with, someone else has it worse. Someone has more heartache. Worse health. Less food. Less money. More violence. Worse issues.
It has taught me to be more patient with people, especially when they apparently do bad or rude things to me…because I have learned that 99.99999999% of the time, it has NOTHING to do with me at all…they have something else going on in their life. Heartache. Illness. Sadness. Anxiety. Bitterness. Fatigue. Stress. I don’t get mad anymore when people cut me off on the road because I was once that person racing down 1604 at 90 mph tailgating…because my step-dad was just rushed to the hospital and I needed to be there. Remember that next time you get mad at someone! Maybe they have an emergency. Just get the F out of the way! Maybe they are just an ass. You don’t know. remember it is not about YOU, it is about them.
It is a difficult thing to do most times…to not sweat that small stuff.
When I feel myself starting to do this, I have retrained myself to think about how freakin’ blessed I am. Sometimes though, God has to remind me as He did on Monday. Think about all that I have to be thankful for in my life. Then the other stuff doesn’t matter. I also really try and have compassion for those that I meet or see or encounter every day. We aren’t here to judge people, we are supposed to love them. Even the ones you don’t want to love.
I leave you with this thought…from my favorite devotional, Jesus Calling:
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| Can I get an AMEN?? |