week: fourteen

Here's a funny story that will give you a good chuckle:

Last Thursday I was feeling pretty good. Two days prior I had been offered a position as Assistant Men's Pastor at my church and this was the day that I would give my two weeks notice of resignation to the hospital. On top of that, I had just picked up a copy of the Seminary's quarterly magazine The Kindred Spirit. I had been looking forward to the magazine's release because I knew they were adding a bit about the leadership study I did this summer with a group of people at Texadelphia restaurant. It was exciting to see my picture in this magazine and to read the little article they wrote. It made me feel good. So, I had a few things going for me on Thursday. Not to mention that just before leaving campus I popped into the campus bookstore to see my beautiful girlfriend, Amanda. And, seeing her always makes me feel ten times better than I did before seeing her. After taking a moment to say hello to Amanda, I dropped by the coffee shop to pick up an iced coffee for my drive out to the hospital. An iced coffee (any kind of coffee for that matter) is like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. It's the perfect topping on an already perfect day!

I headed out to the parking lot with my head held high, a little bounce in my step, and my iced coffee sweating my right hand. I probably even had a little smile on my face as I thought about what God was doing in my life.

The parking lot is brand new. Well, it's an old parking lot, but the Seminary just had it renovated and expanded. It's twice (or maybe three times) larger than it was before. It's surrounded by beautiful black iron fencing and incredible landscaping. It's a pretty impressive looking parking lot and it's not even finished. They're still putting on the finishing touches.

On Thursday, the day I was feeling so good, a crew was in the lot laying sod and putting in shrubs. The lot was a little dirty because of the work that was being done. Patches of dirt were scattered throughout the lot. Some of the patches were actually mud because a second crew was working on the sprinkling system for the lot.

As I approached my car, I came across one of these patches of dirt and I stepped over it. The heel of my right foot didn't quite clear the dirt. I began sliding through and flying over it. It all happened so suddenly and slowly. I remember looking across the lot into the window of "Jack in the Box" to see if anyone was watching. They were getting the show of their lives. I also remember feeling sad (almost crying) as my iced coffee rolled from my hand into the air. I almost had to duck to avoid being decapitated by my book bag that was flying through the air like a giant Frisbee.

There I was. Flat out on the parking lot. Watching my iced coffee roll away from me. Feet in the air. Pride broken. I popped up and started laughing hysterically because I couldn't believe that I had just fallen while walking to my car. Immediately I looked around to see if anyone had seen this happen. I looked across the street to see if anyone was in the yard on campus. No one. I looked down the row of cars to see if anyone was around. No one. I looked to see if the work crew was looking my way. No one. Then, I started looking through windshields, knowing that many students sit in their cars between classes to do some reading, etc. No one. This was just between me and God. I don't think He did this to me, but I think He got a good laugh out of it.

I still had a good day. I still felt good about what was going on, but I think I needed to fall to help me have the right perspective - to keep me in line lest I become prideful. Good things happen and they make us feel good, but we can't let ourselves become prideful because of those things. We can rejoice in them and thank God for how He provides and blesses, but we need to remember that it's all about Him and not about us.