Speaking of Hell

Yesterday was the day from hell. Now obviously it could have been worse because everything before 1pm was perfect, but it went downhill quickly.

1pm: In court to dispute my ticket for riding on Mass Transit with a student pass. My school told me to purchase those…but Portland says they aren’t valid unless you are 17 or younger. $115 fine. So I plead no contest, explaining my situation. Fine lowered by $20. It took 2 hours of my time, and parking isn’t cheap downtown. In other words…a complete waste of time. And I was treated like an incompetent criminal by the judge.

3pm: Had to go to the auto shop to get what I hoped would be just replacing a headlight. Nope, it was more than that. But it was snowing out so I didn’t care much.

3:47pm: Driving to get gas, about an inch of snow on the ground. Got in a car accident. It was my fault, though I was really close to avoiding it. First accident of my life. It wasn’t bad. I was going 10 mph. Didn’t damage the other car. A few big dents on our car that will be expensive.

4:30pm: Canceled the After Christmas Party with the youth worship team because of the snow. The only plus to that is that we have a lot of dessert at our house with no one to eat it but me (come on over).

5pm: It took me over an hour to drive from the spot of the accident back to the church. A distance of less than one mile. Worst traffic I’d ever seen…until later.

7pm: Made it to Rose’s work to pick her up. A 6 mile drive in 2 hours. At one point I moved a quarter mile in one hour. Worst traffic I’ve ever seen, even worse than Los Angeles.

7:43pm: Home. First time in my entire life I would have preferred rain instead of snow. That is sad.

Yesterday felt like a microcosm of our life the past few months. God has been blessing us in huge ways but we’ve also faced some huge strains as well. The last 2 months have been harder financially and emotionally than all of the previous year.

I’d really appreciate your prayers. In some ways I know God’s provision for us will remain true, in other ways I feel like I’m we’re barely holding on.

Whining session over.