Monday, November 13, 2006

Monday--Misty's Challenge


*Edit--I just happened to find it (1:50 PM CST)--where I have looked several times already, only this time with hubby's GOOD flashlight...under my oldest daughter's bed. I believe my youngest was responsible, but nonetheless I am soooo relieved!! Oh, and biggest lesson learned--never leave my wallet or anything I really need in my toddler's reach :)

Lessons in Frustration


On Saturday afternoon, I lost my wallet. "Uh, oh," you think. If I had left it at a restaurant or store, I would just immediately check there, then cancel all my cards, get replacements, etc if I couldn't find it. Trouble is, I was here ALL day Saturday and I had it here that morning. I was doing my favorite kind of Christmas shopping--catalog shopping online! I sat down for my afternoon shopping session with my laptop on the couch and when I was ready to check out, no wallet to be found. I have combed this house, even going as far as digging through the garbage I had taken out that afternoon. Yesterday, I even moved the couch and searched beneath and inside it--which is not an easy feat since it's a sectional and my back is not thanking me today.

My dear husband, being the sympathetic man he is ;) says, "I don't know why you're so upset about it. You know it's here somewhere." That's precisely why I'm upset! I had it one moment, and the next it's gone. I either put it somewhere really wierd, or Zoe carried it off and hid it or flushed it, or it's gone to the Land of Lost Wallets (probably near the Island of Lost Toys and the Realm of Lost Socks).

I'm learning some lessons in this frustration, though I have not taken it well at all until today. Saturday I was angry and yesterday I was depressed, and today, I'm starting to see some lessons in finding lots of other things I had fogotten about during the searching. I found our electric bill, 9 days late, and managed to call in a phone payment (with hubby's debit card). I found three play phones for the kids, which they enjoyed like they were new again. I found a Veggie Tales movie under the entertainment center that the kids had never watched and some more movies that had been lost for a while. And I was able to vacuum behind and under the couch and retrieve all the toys and "items" that had fallen behind there.

The challenge for today, I guess, is how well do you handle frustrations? Can you eventually see some lessons in it or light at the end of the tunnel? Or does it consume you in unrest? I've started out totally consumed in frustration, and I'm moving toward acceptance and thinking of what to do next. Annoying as most situations like this are, they're really not the end of the world and we have to trust that God can use even this little craziness to teach us and reach us.

3 comments:

Vessel said...

I have been to that frustrated place of thinking, "Lord, am I losing it? " I'm glad you found it.
I left my wallet on the bumper of my car once at a cross roads in the middle of nowhere near Attascadero, CA....I'm mean nowwheresville. I drove off forgetting it.Three days later, a guy calls me from the same town I lived in and said he was pulling into the same little po-dunk gas stop I had lost it at and saw it.
This gas stop was about 90 miles from where we both lived. He was so nice, so I gave him $40 dollars to take his wife out to dinner.

Mysti said...

Isn't that something? My hubby once drove around with his tool box on his tailgate and it never even fell off. I'm glad there are nice people though, like that gentleman, who will return things.

Anonymous said...

Once my mom bought some old records at an auction for me, after looking through them noticed old army papers and old army pictures. It turned out that it was pictures of the man that was selling his stuff. He apparantly didn't know that was in there. Luckily, I worked with his son in law and I called him and told him to come to my office. He was so glad that I returned them. I couldn't imagine having kept them.