I found myself today thinking multiple times " It is never dull here!" This afternoon I was driving to Costco to pick up a few items and I started thinking this deep and meaningful thing to sit down and write when I got home. Did I actually write it... nope! The afternoon got crazy and here I am now sitting at 7:30 and I am trying to remember all of the good points that I had made in my mental notes. Am I the only one that does that? As I was driving I saw something that reminded me of another thing that sent me down a long road of mental notes of things to bring home and write out.
As my memory has been fogged a little by the afternoon chaos that has taken place in my home I will try to relay some of the points that were oh, so profound this afternoon.
I was driving to Costco as I earlier stated and I came up to a women driving down the road very slowly with her hazard lights on. Being that I was coming upon her from the front I could see why she was driving so slowly with her hazards on - she was following a stray dog that was walking down the middle of the street. Now being that I was in the front I could see why this lady was driving the way she was. The long line of drivers behind her could not see the dog and they were impatiently honking and flinging arms. Two of the drivers swerved out from behind this lady (mind you, now they are in my lane) yelling out their window as they passed her... both of these cars that passed her were driven by men - just putting that out there.
This picture struck me from a conversation I had with a friend only a few hours earlier. So stick with me here (this is a picture into how my mind works... it could get a little confusing). Keep the above story in your mind as I tell this next one and then at the end of both I will bring it all together, just wait!
Today was MOPS and preschool, I had just finished MOPS and had a half an hour to kill until I had to get Zeke. I usually go out to the car and put everything away from MOPS so I have less to carry when I have Zeke. Today was a little different - I didn't do my usual, I just hung out in the hall in front of Zeke's class. As I was standing there a friend of mine that I met through MOPS but no longer is in MOPS walks by me. I give my "How are you smile?" and what happened next blew my socks off. This friend and I usually exchange this smile and go on our ways... to day was different. She looked me in the eyes and said, "Can I unload?" I was not sure what that was going to mean for me or her but smiled and said, "Sure!" For the next twenty minutes she shared with me that she was pregnant (which I knew) but after she had informed me of this months earlier she miscarried not long after. Two days after she miscarried her husband of four years informed her that he did not lover her any more and was not interested in being with her any more. Being the positive person that she is said to her straying husband, let's work it out, we can make it work! Things only became more strained and through emails intercepted by herself as well as text messages she discovered that there was another women. Needless to say two days ago a woman called their home phone asking for her boyfriend. So yesterday she sent her husband out of their house. My twenty minute conversation with this friend really saddened me - she admitted that she is in the angry stage and just needed to unload. I left that talk, feeling grateful for my husband, thankful that I was there for her but mostly just burdened to pray for her.
Now comes the tying the two stories together... So often we as women drive around through life with our hazard lights on. We are either hurting within or guarding those around us by carrying their hazards, as it were. As in both stories I had a different visual I was in the front of the situation, therefore I could see the hazard. For my friend, my smile was there and she knew her story would be safe with me to unload it and maybe help eliminate some of the pent of anger. For the women driving her big SUV, no one behind her could see that she was driving like she was because of the dog in the street - they just passed her with horns honking and arms waving.
Take the time to find out about your friends, check to make sure their "hazard lights" aren't flashing. If those lights are flashing, maybe a smile will bring out the story. Don't let your friends go through life with their "hazard lights" flashing and not take the time to take a step back to gain another perspective and offer a smile, ear, and shoulder!
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