In My Own Little World

In my own little world
Population me

...put Your light in my eyes and let me see
that my own little world is not about me.

These are a few of the lyrics from Christian artist Matthew West's new song, My Own Little World. And oh how did they apply to me yesterday. Yesterday I was up early, waaaay earlier than I'd ever get up on a normal day. But I had a 9:00 appointment at the lab for a 3-hour glucose test (to diagnose gestational diabetes) as the results of my 1-hour glucose test on Monday came back high. Which meant that the Girls and I had to be out of the house by 7:45 to pick up our babysitter and bring her back to the house. No way, was I dragging my Sweets to the lab for three monotonous hours. Before leaving to pick up the sitter, I checked my email and found a message from J informing me that he'd forgotten to take clothes to work with him for his physical therapy appointment in the afternoon and asking if I could drop them by the physical therapy office. After reading the message my immediate reaction was, "Are you serious?!" and the annoyance sank in - deep. Here I am already rushing around the house trying to get myself and the Girls ready and out the door and now I have to gather clothes and shoes for J's physical therapy appointment? We made it out the door just a few minutes later than I had hoped, ran and got the sitter and came back to the house where I dropped everyone off and whizzed off again to my 9:00 appointment. My sitter had a previously scheduled youth group function to be at by 1:00 and so I needed to be back by 12:30. Which would not be a problem unless the lab was overloaded and was not able to do my first blood draw right at 9:00, in that case I'd already made arrangements for Miss A's Mom to go and relieve the sitter who's Mom would pick her up from our house at 12:30. In fact, Miss A's Mom had graciously offered to watch the girls the entire time but I remember being a teenaged girl who looked forward to baby-sitting in order to earn some cash and it had been a while since we'd used our sitter. I arrived at the lab right on time and they did my first blood draw precisely at 9:05 which meant that I'd be done at 12:05 on the dot - plenty of time to make it back to the house in time but not enough time to drop J's clothes off at the physical therapy office afterward...eventhough it wasn't that far from the hospital. I texted J to let him know that I wouldn't have time to drop off his clothes and he texted back that he might be able to come to the hospital and grab them from the car. Good. An hour or so later he texted to let me know that he wasn't going to be able to come and get them and could I please drop them by the physical therapy office as it was just down the street and would only take 2 minutes. Which got me even more irked cause while the office is close, it would take superhero speed to complete the task in 2 minutes - 10 minutes at the very least was more like it. As I sat there, waiting for my next blood draw, my agitation building with every passing moment all I could think about was how inconsiderate it was for him to even ask me to inconvenience my schedule due to his forgetfulness. All the while, the thought kept creeping into the back of my mind that really it wasn't such a big deal as Miss A's Mom had already volunteered to hang out with the Girls in the event of my appointment running late. But I just couldn't get past my pride and the attitude of being 'put out' by his request. Never mind the fact that he goes to work every day at a job he is none too happy with right now but that he hangs onto because the benefits are good as is the pay and it allows me the opportunity to be at home with the Girls. I definitely needed to be put into my place and given a fresh perspective on the situation...
As I was sitting in the chair for my 4th and final blood draw an alarm went off and a voice boomed over the hospital's intercom, "Incoming

adult trauma." That was the perspective I needed, delivered straight from the mouth of God. As I sat in the chair having my blood drawn and listening to the lab techs discuss who would head down to the ER I realized what an enormous brat I'd been all morning. Seriously. All of a sudden the idea of going a few miles out of my way and taking some extra time out of my planned schedule came into glaring focus for what it was - completely and totally inconsequential, nothing compared to what this particular person headed to the ER was facing. Nothing compared to what so many others face on a daily basis. I practically ran out of the lab eager to deliver J's clothes to his physical therapist's office and thanking God for giving me the smack up the side of the head that I needed to bring me around. To bring me to the realization of what really matters and what does not.

But He wasn't finished with me yet. Upon delivering the clothes, the friendly older lady sitting behind the desk was quick to sing my

praises and tell me how sweet and considerate I was to do such a thing. All the while I was thinking, Lady, if you only knew...Ok, God I get it, message received loud and clear. And He has a sense of humor too - as I was pulling into the driveway at exactly 12:37, I got a text from J saying that the physical therapy office had just called to inform him that his appointment wasn't for that day, but the following afternoon. Ha, ha!! Clearly God had an important lesson for me to learn today. As you can see, doing one simple task for my husband didn't interfere in any way with my agenda. The Girls and I were still able to enjoy the afternoon at the river with our friends. In fact, I think I enjoyed it all the more because of the morning's unnecessary drama on my part. I was filled with gratitude and a fresh perspective on all of the blessings in my life, all the things on a daily basis that I have to be thankful for. All the things that truly matter. On the way home, the Matthew West song I referenced at the beginning of the post (if you can even remember back that far) came across the radio, just another great reminder. Thanks God!