Thursday was not what I expected.
Before I even left the house my plan for the day changed twice.
It was not a great day.
It was one of those days…
…where tasks that need to be done force aside the things I’m passionate about, the things that make me feel most alive.
…where I failed at everything I tried to do. From the book store that was closed for 2 hrs over lunch, to the trip to the tailor where the top I had made didn’t fit, to the ATM being out of money, to the grocery store being out of 1/2 the stuff I needed to buy.
…where you think, “I just need a win” and keep trying to succeed at just one small thing, but keep failing.
And then I finally made it to the Sari Bari unit where I was supposed to be all day (I happen to love Thursdays cause I get to spend all day at our unit in the south, where there are less tasks for me to do, where my time is spent in a much more relational way, and where I can work on the blanket I’m sewing).
I never know quite how to respond when the ladies say things like, “yes, I can tell you are tired. Your face looks horrible” or, “oh, you have so much tension on your face.” But those were the comments that greeted me today…and they were true.
So I ended up sitting in one of the rooms with the ladies and had the most absurd and hilarious conversation with them. They were peer-pressuring me…and they were good at it…and I laughed and laughed. I reveled in their love, and acceptance, in the relationships that have been formed between us. And for awhile the day faded away and I laughed with my friends, my sisters.
What a gift. I told them before I left. I told them that I was having a horrible day, but when I got to spend time with them I laughed and laughed, and that they gave me such a beautiful gift. I told them that today they gave me joy. And it’s true.