
Have you ever had one of those mornings - when it feels like the day starts in the wrong direction and quickly begins spiraling out of control? It’s like watching an alpine skier get the tip of his or her ski caught in a gate and then crash down the mountain hopelessly. Last week I had one of those mornings.
The previous night our daughter, Addi Grace, had her first accident in her car seat on the way home. At three years old, we thought we had this all squared away. When we have to go potty, we let someone know. Nope. Not this time.
No notice. No warning. She had to pee. So, she did. When we asked why she didn’t tell us she had to go to the bathroom she simply said, “it was an accident. I’m sorry.” While super cute, it still doesn’t minimize the fact that we had to clean up pee and take a bath after midnight. So we removed the car seat cover, washed it and laid it on the counter to dry overnight.
In the meantime, my wife and I decided we were swapping cars the next morning because of a few projects I needed to get done at the store. In the process of moving things between the vehicles, I managed to leave the back door open in my car.
At 6:30am the next morning it started to rain (and by rain, I mean downpour), which meant Max & Lola (our miniature Yorkies) would not go outside and made a mess in the bathroom. In the process of cleaning it up, our daughter woke up from the storm, scared, and could not be consoled. My wife, Lauren, was running late and trying to figure out where I moved everything from the night before…
In my attempt to get everything in its proper place, I realized my car door was open, the backseat holding a couple of inches of water. So, I removed Addi’s car seat to let it dry, grabbed towels to soak up the flood, and switched everything back to its original vehicle (are you tired yet)?
Several minutes later, my wife was out the door. In our flurry of frustration, the day didn’t start in the right direction. I could feel my blood pressure elevated as I was physically affected by the tension and circumstance. But my direction changed in an instant when I looked out the back window. The grey skies from the morning storm were split open by a subtle blue streak of sky.
It wasn’t there for long, but long enough to remind me that God delivers us from distress when we call out to him. He stills the storms and guides us (Psalm 107:28-31).
I paused for a minute, laughed about the events that had transpired over the past 30 minutes, and decided there was plenty of day left for more blue skies. Ironically, rain was in the forecast all day and that afternoon I found myself caught in the middle of more rain as I transferred boxes into the store. I paused for a moment and looked up at the sky. No visible sign of a blue streak,
but I knew it was only a matter of time.