I thoughtfully warmed up my wife's car yesterday morning, so she wouldn't have to scrape the ice or sit in a cold car for the first 10 minutes of her long commute. (What a good thing.) Unfortunately, I used my keys, which also had the keys to the church and my office. (What a bad thing.)You can already guess that when it was time for me to leave the house, she was an hour away with my keys. I sent two texts and called her twice, with my frustration building with each attempt. I stopped long enough to think, "wait, how is this her fault?" Fortunately, neither my texts nor my messages carried any "heat," and when she called, we both chuckled as we wondered if this was a lesson that "no good deed goes unpunished." (What a good thing.)
Stopping at the hospital to visit the latest newborn in the church, I hoped someone would get to the church and unlock it before I arrived. I was there for about an hour when I started to stress over all that I needed to get done today. (What a bad thing.) While there, I felt the familiar vibration of my cell phone and learned that someone did get to church, and in fact, the power was out: no lights, no heat, no computers... and I didn't even have to drive there to find it out. (What a good thing.)
That's not the end of the story though.
I didn't warm up the car this morning (but only because I forgot - I promise.) However, when it was time for me to leave the house...again, no keys! AGGHHH! (What a bad thing.) Two texts, two messages, this time all four were sent with a smile and a shrug of my shoulders. (What a good thing.)
This time I went to church hoping to find someone there, but no one was. (What a bad thing.) So, I went to Tully's. There I ran into someone from church, had a cup of coffee, sat and wrote this blog. (good, good and good.)
When I'm paying attention to what's going on around me and within me, I realize:
the good and bad usually come one right after the other;
nothing lasts long (whether I want it to or not);
the things I can control are my thoughts and reactions to the people and events I have no control over. So, why not think good things and react with love and grace.
Those are the keys to the kingdom for me today (and that's all good.)
Jesus said, "the kingdom of God does not come with your observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the Kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21
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