What a Day!

I have to let you in on my day Tuesday, because it was quite honestly awful. From the moment I woke up, I think I was just bound to fail fail fail. It started out LATE, and because of that, I was in a bit of a hurry. I ran down the stairs and tripped, throwing my stuff all over the floor which made me even later getting into the car with waiting people outside. I had planned to make oatmeal bread with my Remedial students, and I was going over the plans in my head. I realized I had left my vitamins on my dresser and forgotten to take them. No biggie, I can do that later I think to myself.

So I go back to planning the day- Go teach my Access class at 8:30-10:00, from 10:00-12:00 do the bread making, from 12:00-1:00 teach the garment making students their graduation song, from 1:00-1:30 eat lunch, 1:30-3:00 work the the library with Ellen on chucking old and bad books, 3:00 get on bus with Ellen to go to #57 to teach Ravinee and some other girls keyboarding lessons. Get there at 3:30, teach from 4:00-5:00, eat dinner, leave for the bible study at 5:30, bible study at 6:00, home around 8:15. Then detox and figure out tomorrow. There's my day going through my head while driving to the Centre at 8:15 a.m.

Then, the day happened. My access class went ok, we got much accomplished, and I was happy. I taught bread class, and the first hour went ok, though a little frustrating trying to teach 21 students how to make yeast bread! Then it just went downhill. Apparently, someone had sprayed cleaner in the oven, and no-one had told me, and I didn't know. So I bake the first batch of rolls, and it takes 45 minutes before they're done. Then the next ones are over risen, so I punch them all down and re-shape them. Wait for them to rise, and bake. They burn, and are only in the oven 20 minutes. The third one was a loaf pan, and it took an hour, the fourth one was a loaf pan as well, 45 minutes, and the fifth batch are burnt as well, and only in the oven 15 minutes! By this time, I have missed my singing with the girls, 12:00 has long come and gone, in fact, I didn't eat lunch or work in the library because it is now 4:00 and we need to be going to Ravinee's. It's not even like I ended up with good bread for all of that day. I was ticked.

We're late to teach lessons, my whole day just went down the drain with bread that BURNED because of a stupid oven that doesn't work right, and finally we get on a bus. Now, it is pouring rain outside, and has been for about an hour. I am carrying my purse, Ellen's gold bag that I borrow to put all of my teaching books, papers, and anything to deal with the Centre in. Oh- and a waterproof market bag full of all of the pans and ingredients from today's failure. So we're driving along, and I'm trying to get a better attitude because it's bad, and I'm watching for Ravinee's house so I can tell the bus driver where to let us off. I'm sitting in the front bench, right NEXT to the driver. You remember that it is raining, right? So the windows are all fogged up, and on top of that, my glasses are fogged up, double fog. So I can't see really well. Well. I see a water tower, which is (I thought) before Ravinee's house. I start watching for Ravinee's house, and don't see it where it was the last time I came. It has seemed like we've been driving a long time, so I say "I think here" to the driver. He stops the bus. It is pouring rain. Ellen doesn't think it looks right, but I know we've been driving forever. So we get out. And start walking backwards, because I promise Ellen I saw a water tower.

Well, I saw one alright, but it's the water tower in village #52, not 57. So we walk. It's pouring rain. There's no buses or Tapirs, and everyone is in their homes. We are getting drenched. I can't see where I'm walking because I now have fog AND rain all over my glasses, and hair too, none of which I can wipe because my hands are full with my bags, one in each hand.

We walk probably 20 minutes and some guys asked us toward the end of our 20 minute pouring rain walk if we want to come under their shelter(the bottom of their house), and we look down at ourselves, and look up, and Ellen says, "What's the point, we're already soaked." I was literally DRIPPING from the my skin to the top of my clothes. I felt like I'd gone swimming. Finally, a bus comes, and thankfully, decides to pick us dripping wet mops off of the street. They clear a bench for us in a somewhat full bus, because no-one wants to sit next to us. We tell them 57, and we laugh as we are driving. We are a sight.

We pass Ravinee's house again, because no-one can see out the windows because they're fogged, and I see the water-tower of 57, and tell them to let us off. We start walking the other way, toward Ravinee's house, and it probably took us 5 minutes to get there. While walking, I was so shocked and slightly baffled at my predicament, that I looked up and out-loud asked God if he thought this was funny. I then stupidly let him know that I did not think it was funny, like he didn't already know that. We laughed and kept walking as people stared at us like we were crazy people.

We get to Ravinee's, and her and her mom, Gasmine get us all new clothes to put on, and I taught the girl who came over for a piano lesson, a 5 minutes lesson before she has to leave. Wow.

Then Wednesday started off with a bang, me walking down the stairs on my way out the door to head to the Centre, and I'm carrying my purse, and the $80 boombox we just bought last weekend (in the box). Well, the box decides to collapse, and I'm only on the 12th step out of at least 22. So the boombox flies out of the bottom of the box, and crashes down the 10 other steep steps, and lands with a hard crash at the bottom. I am in utter shock, and all I can think to shout is "OH MY GOODNESS!" "OH MY GOODNESS!" "OH DEAR ELLEN,,," My heart was crushed. I felt like a complete and total failure. Then when I got to the Centre, I saw the huge crack on top of the boombox. I plugged it in- nothing. Yeah, that just confirmed my being a failure. It's ruined, and unless by some miraculous happening Terry can fix it...

While driving to the Centre, the song "trust and obey" was going through my mind. Then when I read my bible at the Centre, it was talking about how these earthly things profit little, actually, it was in John, and Jesus was talking about how things are simply means. They aren't that important. I think that was supposed to make me feel a little better. I'm still not sure if it did. I tripped down a flight of stairs at the tour of the Sugar Estate, and didn't severely hurt myself. Then if it hadn't been for one of my students yelling "MISS!" and grabbing my head and shoving it down, I would have cleared my head off on a beam that I was walking right into and didn't see. Oh boy.

Praise God today didn't have any such predicaments. I have come to learn that we have to praise him in the storms because He is who He is, no matter where I am. That's hard.

I praised Him today for keeping me from half killing myself or anyone else.

I'll praise Him tomorrow even if I find myself in some other crazy predicament.