in the back of a truck...

I was a having a relatively lousy day yesterday.  I'll admit it...I was just down on about everything.  I had to see my doctor in the morning for a blood pressure check.  Although my BP was okay, my medicine has made my heart rate too low--likely contributing to my constant tiredness--which likely contributed to my "recent unexpected weight gain".  A printed (although apparently not very common) side-effect of that medicine is sleeplessness which likely also contributed to all of that other junk.  Blah blah blah...doctor ordered blood work and I have a new prescription.  But now I have to figure out how to drop some weight.  Great.  [I'll refrain from listing the myriad of other things that contributed to my morning spiraling into such a day that I actually wanted to listen to heavy metal...]

Anyway, upon leaving the doctor's office, I had planned on picking up gift bags for our graduating seniors at church...  **Before reading further, please note that the school colors for the schools in our area are orange/black, red/black, blue/gold, blue/white, green/white.  Basically.  But these are the colors I frequently shop for at graduation time.  They're common...and LOCAL.  And college colors-- black/gold and burgundy/gold.**

• 1st stop:  no solid colored bags at all
• 2nd stop:  no orange bags, no green bags, no yellow (or gold), no burgundy, no white.  "Party City", my foot... "This season is almost over...we've had it set for a month..."  [Ok.  Clearly I should've shopped for graduation in MARCH.  ???]  *sigh* 
• 3rd stop:  no orange, no black, no green.  So, I purchase the red bags, a blue bag and a white bag at 2x the cost of the other stores...just because they're there.
• back to stop #2 for 1 black bag and tissue paper.  At this point I've almost decided that I need candy more than I need to lose 25 pounds, but manage to walk past the most 15/$1 section without even so much as one Rolo.
• By this time, I've made a back up plan for my back up plan and head back to stop #1 for printed "grad" bags.  The end.

That quick, 20 minute stop just turned into way more than an hour--AND greatly added to my building irritation with my current life.  (Thankfully, I didn't go shopping before the Dr. visit...)

Although I was actually drooling at the thought of using a coupon for a free Original Chicken Sandwich at Burger King, I figured that would be a bad way to jump start this diet thing...so I popped by my house and made a taco salad--meatless.  It was good...but it would've been better if it were chicken...breaded & fried...on a bun...with mayo & pickles...and fries...and Dr. Pepper. 

After all that, I sat in the office, mad that I've gained weight, bummed at all those other things we didn't talk about earlier, irritated that the grad bags and decorations didn't go my way...and of course, I was tired because I still had that dumb medicine in my system.  I was determined to continue my bad day pity party where I had settled in and become so comfortable...

Then someone came in the door of the church building--hollering cheerfully (I have to admit, I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes before they came into view), "Hello!!  Hello-hello!"

The Children's Homes truck guy was here to pick up our donations.  I had to pretend to be happy to see him.  He had a new guy with him and when I introduce myself as {Joy}, I can't exactly be wearing my cranky pants!  I wore my forced smile as we chatted a bit before I headed downstairs to unlock the door for them.   

**Flashback:  last time they came--in January--our donation pile was pitiful.  We had collected less than one 'barrel' of supplies.**  I knew we had done better this time.  Some of our ladies had worked hard promoting the collection day--they held competitions between Bible classes...we had a good stash...and I started to get a little excited as I walked toward the door.  I was sure we'd have 4-5 barrels to send.

The guys met me at the door and came in to see how many barrels to bring in.

They gasped!
They cheered!
They went on and on...
They hugged my neck!

We loaded the loot into barrels--started with 5...and still had piles left over!

I wasn't pretending to be happy any more!  As we filled FOUR MORE BARRELS--the guys were beside themselves and I was {filled with joy}--seeing how the congregation had rallied to bring items needed to help the families at Paragould Children's Homes.  The back of that little box truck was being filled--and seeing the difference between January and April made me so glad.

We laughed...we cheered...and we talked about next time...  July 22--we'll do this again.  We'll fill some number of barrels and load them into the truck.  This time it was amazing and it took away my irritation--erased the annoyance of medicine, weight gain and sleeplessness.  It made colored bags and tissue paper seem perfect no matter what color they were...or weren't. 

Matthew 25:34-40 reminds us that when we take care of those around us who are in need we are really doing this to Jesus...

All I did was bring a few bags of marshmallows and some toothpaste...others did the same (or more!)...but together we filled a big hole in the back of a truck headed to Paragould, Arkansas...  Those 9 barrels of food, paper products and cleaning supplies will stock pantry shelves and will bless the families who care for the children there...and that makes me smile.  Yesterday, I found great joy {in the back of a truck}...

Where are you {finding joy} this day?