Pity Party for Me

So many times I only think about myself...what I'm going through...what I'm feeling...what matters to me..who I have to make dinner for...what needs cleaned. God has taught me some very important lessons the last couple of weeks, but the one I learned this week was especially hard.

Every Thursday, I get to pick my nephew, Buddy, up from preschool at the same time I pick Punky up. I love it because Punky gets excited to have someone to play with at home and I like to see Buddy actually in school! He is such a wonderful little boy.

Anyway, this past Thursday, I had a pity party for myself. For some reason or another, I left work just a few minutes late, which meant I was going to be pushing it to pick up the kids. Even though they are both done at 11:30, I have worked it out so that I can pick Buddy up about 5 minutes early and still have plenty of time to get in the car line to pick up Punky. Well, I found myself leaving work at the time I should have been picking up Buddy. I am driving in the car, getting frustrated, getting angry at the SLOW cars in front of me, mad at the road construction that is slowing me down. I finally pull into the school lot and decide to pick Punky up first so they don't send her to after school care, etc. It was a mess. I pull into the car line only to see that there is a different teacher putting them into the car, and she is not NEARLY as fast as the usual teacher. Great! Just what I need. I am huffing and puffing and really getting myself worked up. I get Punky in the car and race over to get Buddy. I failed to mention that it is cold outside, and raining very hard at this point. I jet full sprint into the building to get Buddy, running all the way. I pick him up, run him back out to the car, get both kids buckled in and at this point I am done! I am upset, tired, hungry, soaked and totally feeling sorry for myself.

I really don't have those days tooooooo often...in fact many times I get teary eyed after dropping Punky off at school in the morning...I thank God as I am walking to my car that I have a beautiful child to take to school, that my job is flexible enough to allow me to do that, and that God has blessed us financially to be able to send Punky to a private school. I really have a great life. But there are those days like Thursday that the pity party for me begins. I found out just today that on that Thursday morning, one of the moms of a little boy in Buddy's class was killed in a car accident on the way to pick him up from class. In the instant that I was feeling angry and tired and UNthankful, I am sure that mother would have given anything to be in my shoes. My heart is sad, not just for this family's tragedy, but because I missed an opportunity to see the little blessings God has given to me. I hope from now on when I get stuck in traffic or am running late, that I think of this and remember how blessed I am and how thankful I am for what I have, for every day I have here on earth, and for the wonderful people in my life that I GET to care for.