Brain Farts and Angels


The day was going along fine, good in fact. It was a perfect mix of productivity and fun. We stopped by the Kaiser clinic to get our flu shots, then hit the library nearby. I found a book I’ve been wanting to read (score!), plus I grabbed a handful of books for Con Bon. After the library, we stopped by a neighborhood park so the toddler could expend spend of his boundless energy. Grandma even went down the slide, too. Such fun! A bit later, we pulled into our driveway at home. I went to get Connor out of his car seat, and that’s when I noticed something was missing.

“Where is my purse? Oh crud! I left it somewhere! “

Immediately, I went into panic mode. “Dear God, please help me find that purse! I beg you!”

We hightailed it back to the library while I dialed their number. The librarian re-traced my steps: children’s section, check-out counter, exit. Nope. Nada. I left my name and number – just in case. Still, we cruised by the parking lot to check if perhaps it fell out of the car when I was loading the kid. Nothing but asphalt.

By then, I was headed for a full-blown panic attack. Several years ago, I had my purse stolen. It’s not fun! So many things to replace. Aint nobody got time for that! “Lord, pleeassseee!”

Breathe, Mary, breathe…

Next, we headed back over to the park. I couldn’t imagine that it would be there. After all, I’d gone down the slide and everything. But as we pulled up and I walked over to the playground, there it was, perched on the picnic table. What the ??? “Thank you, Jesus!”

That was a close one! In the twenty five minutes we’d been gone, no one touched it. Amazing. Of course, I berated myself for being such an absent-minded nincompoop.

Later that night, I pulled out the crock pot and got it all ready for the morning so that Don could throw some ingredients in for dinner. I headed to bed and read for a while. Don was already asleep. After tossing and turning for an eternity, I got up to find something to help me sleep, and then I noticed it. The crock pot was plugged in, HOT, and EMPTY. Geeze! What is wrong with me? Immediately, I thought of “This is Us” … spoiler alert, the house burns down because of the crock pot.

Is this what my poor children have to look forward to when I’m old? (If I manage to live that long?)

“For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go” (Psalm 91:11).

Yep, God’s angels were sure working overtime on my behalf. Who knows what potential mishaps I was protected from. My brain was definitely misfiring.

But here’s the thing: sometimes bad stuff really does happen. After all, we live in a broken world. There’s plenty of sickness and chaos and evil and heartache to go around. God never promises that we’ll have a problem-free life. He does, however, promise he’ll always be with us through the hard stuff.

Still, I’m glad that He took pity on this brain-fart girl. Tomorrow is another day. Hoping for the best!



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