My Unusual Day

            

I had been eye-ing a toaster oven at Walgreens for $20 ever since I still had a job... It grills, bakes, and toasts.... I wanted to get it for my mother, but I kept wondering if I should buy it, because I am without a job... Finally, I made up my mind to buy it for her...

 

So yesterday morning, I got up before the dawn to take out the trash and load the trunk of my car with some things that I had already bagged to donate to charity. That was a hard task for me, not only because of my back injuries but also because I had to go up and down the stairs to do it... but I did it! That was very unusual. Thank you, Abba!

 

When I finished, I flopped on the sofa... I was exhausted... I closed my eyes for a short break...

 

Then, I took a shower, put on some makeup, and an old black top and a pair of jeans. I got in my car and they were playing that song that says: I got in my car, put on the radio~ something something, but you know I'm a liar, ooo fire... Teehee @ I love that song although I don't know the words...

 

   And so, I drove off to deliver the charity items. I rang and rang the doorbell. It was unusual that no one showed up to answer the door, but I left the five bags there anyway, because it was clear that there was someone inside...

 

It is a large warehouse where they use the money for a children's home. Every time I donate things to charity, I can't help but think of all the people my donations will help... 

 

   Then, I drove over to my mother's house, taking a chance that she would be at home. She was still in her pajamas... She looks smaller now and thinner. I think she keeps losing weight, because she doesn't have her top teeth anymore... Everything that she eats has to be very soft...

 

She was surprised to see the toaster oven, but she put it away in the other room, just as she does with everything that I give her... She cooks on a hot plate because she doesn't have a stove, but I still have hope that she will decide to use it one day... especially since she likes to cook for my brother and take the food to him...

 

She took out some nopales that she had prepared from her cactus garden and warmed them up on the hot plate. I love nopales. I got a soda and she grabbed a cup of coffee. We sat down together in the two chairs and ate, as she talked and talked and talked, as if she were happy to see me... That is  very unusual for her...

 

   I asked her if she had seen my old birdcage. She has a dove in a very small cage that she places by the window, and she has a large cage that my daughter bought for her about ten years ago but she has never used it. There was also a little red cage that was smaller than the cage where she has the dove. It looks as if it was made in Mexico... I didn't see my old bird cage until I went back into the bathroom to wash my hands... It was in the window... It was so discolored from the sun that I failed to recognize it, but I was happy to find it and to bring it back with me...

 

I asked her about the 10%, because they had been talking about the 10% a lot at church... They say that if you are not true to give 10% of your earnings to God that everything that you do falls apart... Mother said that your 10th does not have to be about money... It can also be about giving of your time to God...

 

We talked on some other subjects, although I really do not remember what they were exactly... All I know is that it was very unusual to have a pleasant conversation with my mother, without criticism... She did mention my big stomach, but she was not as harsh about my weight as she usually is...

 

It is hard to believe that I spent the entire day with her and it was an unusually pleasant conversation... The whole time I wondered if she would wonder why I was there on a Tuesday, but she never said anything about it...

 

Before I left, I told her that I had lost my job... and I asked her to pray for me and for my older daughter who is in the second stage of Fibrosis...

 

I found it very unusual that she finally understands that it is not such a great luxury to have an apartment where they can evict you at any time if you do not pay the rent... It was also very unusual for her to show concern for my older daughter because she has always favored the younger one instead...

 

It was almost dark when I reached the Basilica. I was hoping to get home before dark, but I wanted to go to the bronze life sized statues of the Stations of the Cross to see Jesus in the tomb... I was hoping to sit in the cave, but it was wet from the rain... I spent some time, talking to God, and feeling the holes of the nails in his hands and his feet...

 

Then, I walked over to the Crucifiction and looked up at Jesus nailed on the cross to see what Mary and the apostle that he loved saw when they looked up at Jesus. It was very touching, very real... I wish I had remembered my camera... I will need to take it with me the next time I go...

 

When I got home, I walked over to the mailboxes to check my mail... There were two cards from my friend Belle... Belle never sends letters. She always sends little note cards and writes a brief little note inside it... But what was unusual was to get two cards that had been mailed on the same day... One of the cards was an Easter card... The other card contained a ten dollar bill and a five dollar bill.

 

OMGGG... It was as if I was getting part of my money back for buying that toaster oven for my mother... What a pleasant surprise! God is so good.

 

Yes, in the road of life,

there are many thorns along the way...

But at the end of that road,

Is a bloom as beautiful and fragrant

as a rose...