What started out as a terrible-horrible-no good-very bad day

(Okay, so it wasn't that bad - and the title I stole from a great children's book)

"Am I still good even when everything else is going wrong?"

This morning was a time when I really wanted to tell God "no." The question resounded in my head while I stood rummaging through my purse for my work badge to let myself in this morning. I was already late, going on more late. This morning, I stepped outside to drive to work having not anticipated the snowfall after days of beautiful weather and rain, which melted months of Ann Arbor snow away.

I got up early enough this morning for my overtime shift. Got enough sleep last night, showered and dressed, ate breakfast - and I usually run out the door before eating breakfast, which is eaten a commute later at work - and armed myself with materials to entertain myself between calls for nine hours at work today.

I thought I'd have enough time to drive to work at a nice leisurely pace, but I found myself running and slipping, frantically trying clean off my snow-encrusted car. By the time I reached the State Street commuter lot, I had 6 minutes to 9:00 am - when I was supposed to be on the phone. Better yet, I was stuck behind a car that was driving below the speed limit on the snowy roads - as any competent driver would. While praying that God would hold off the calls until I got there and gripping the steering wheel all the while, I managed to make it to the intersection of State and the entrance to my workplace by 8:59 am - not great, but a lot better than I had anticipated.

Of course, the winding and unplowed Avis Drive would prove slippery and dangerous this morning: my car was swerving wildly as I maneuvered around the curves. At the first curve, it appeared that my car was headed straight for the ditch right next to the lake - not a great prospect for a girl late for work, on her way to being even more late, and possibly stuck in the snow.

Once at work, I grabbed a few support letters for my intended trip to Jakarta so that I could send them from work today - and of course, a few of those slipped from my gloved fingers onto the pavement drenched with salty, dirty snow. And once inside the first set of double doors, I couldn't find my work badge to swipe myself in so I could get on the phones - which is why I came into work this morning in the first place.

Got to my desk, logged into my phone, and the calls started pouring in. It's tax season, so even though I'm routing calls, the stress and frustration from people on the other end - however brief our time together is on the phone - pours into my ears. I had managed to salvage the letters that had fallen to the ground with the exception of two, and placed them on my desk to let the wet parts dry. I felt horrible because I was late, because of the people I'd spoken with this morning, and because of the letter fiasco.

But then I heard a voice behind me asking, "Iris, is Sandy here this morning?" It was a technical support representative named Doug, who had formerly been in our department. I had met him once before in the Customer Service kitchen, and we had exchanged polite conversation at that time - I was just grateful to have remembered his name. "No, she'll be in at ten," I told him. "And are you Indonesian?" he asked, referring to the nearly dried letters on my desk. I told him that I was Filipino and explained to him about this trip coming up. I had no idea of his belief system, but told him that if this is what God wanted, He would provide everything that we needed.

Doug proceeded to share with me that he meets with international students in the Ann Arbor area on Friday evenings and they participate together in a time of Bible study and fellowship. I was set to have calls come into my phone while we were talking, which was quite some time, but no calls came in. I realized that the conversation might not have taken place if I hadn't been late, dropped some letters in the snow, and laid them to dry out on my desk. I actually got choked up when I realized this during the conversation, thinking about how God is good even when everything feels like it's going wrong. And, I'm hoping to meet some of these students and learn about what it's like to live abroad - and perhaps even share with them the love of Christ.

So, 7.5 more hours to go until my Valentine's Day dinner plans (the men in my Bible study are making dinner for the women!) - but I won't be counting down. I'm actually excited to see how else God is faithful while I am sitting at my desk today, even when I am so faithless.